


You're My Story

by IW3



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-17
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2019-10-30 01:51:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17819558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IW3/pseuds/IW3
Summary: Charlotte Flair sacrificed a lot in her life to get to where she was, including relationships; however, she's starting to think that maybe it's time she begin sharing a Netflix account with more than just her parents.





	1. Unlucky Number Seven

Seven lives were lost that night. Seven families changed forever. They said the driver of an oil tanker had fallen asleep at the wheel and went through the center divider, causing massive destruction in its path. It was a full trauma team response in the Emergency Room of Hopedale Hospital that night as the wounded kept coming in, both by air and on ground. 

Charlotte Flair had finished high school at the age of 14, graduated with a Bachelor of Science from Harvard at 18, gone on for an additional four years of medical school at Harvard Medical School, completed her residency in three years, and finally a three year fellowship in orthopedics at the age of 28. 

She had been working at Hopedale since then, working her way up to being one of the most respected and sought after orthopedic surgeons not only in the city of Los Angeles but in the state of California — the entire West Coast actually — and she had done it all in only three years. She knew she had some luck along the way in her pursuit of greatness, such as her father’s reputation as one of the best orthopedic surgeons in the world before he retired, but the long nights she spent alone in the library or in her apartment going through books, research articles, etc., seldom having time for any meaningful relationships or even friendships for that matter, made it easy for her to believe that nobody could tell her she didn’t deserve to be exactly where she was.

So after one of the hardest nights of her professional career where she had to see families fill the hospital to try and get any information on their loves ones, where she heard simultaneous sobs of both grief and relief as more and more information became available, and where she lost two patients on the operating table — Charlotte Flair made a decision and executed it two days later. 

“Oh honey, your father called me after he got your message. I’m so sorry for what happened and I know you’re probably beating yourself up over it but I also can’t help but feel some sort of joy at you coming home to visit us for a bit.” Her mother Elizabeth had been a stay-at-home mom since Charlotte was born. She was her first teacher and the first one to notice that her daughter wasn’t like the other children her age. She learned to talk and read quite early and she seemed to retain information better than children twice her age. Elizabeth spent many years trying to convince Charlotte that there was nothing wrong with preferring to read books inside her room instead of going outside to play with her brothers and that being interested in school didn’t make her any less interesting than anyone else, no matter how many times the other children in her classes would tease her about it. 

When Charlotte would go home to North Carolina to visit her parents she felt a sense of safety surrounding her the entire time. She could forget about the stress she faces every day when she enters the halls of Hopedale. All she had to do was get on the plane and escape for a little while so she can regroup and come back ready to tackle whatever else is thrown at her. “Yeah mom, I’m excited too. Although dad mentioned something about you guys having a dinner tomorrow night with some old friends and I really hope it’s not formal because I didn’t pack anything for one of your famous parties.” 

“No no don’t worry about that, it’s just a small get-together between us and our old neighbors. You probably don't even remember them because they moved away when you were, oh gosh, I don't even remember that far back but you were pretty young.” 

“I’ll probably be up in my room anyways just binging on terrible television as always.” Charlotte said as she switched her weight from her left leg onto her right. She looked over at the monitor hanging above the Gate D sign which indicated that her flight would be boarding in 10 minutes. She hadn’t been able to sleep since that night at the hospital and had foolishly taken on extra surgical cases to try and get her mind off of everything that happened so she was hoping a couple of hours trapped on a plane would force her to rest. 

“Well I won’t force you to socialize with us but they did say that their daughter was also going to be visiting with them and she’s your age. You guys actually spent a lot of time together when you were young, it seemed like neither one of you got along with any of the other kids in the neighborhood but you somehow both found a friend in each other.” 

“Who are these people again?” Charlotte asked as she grabbed her bag off the floor and made her way over to the First Class loading zone to avoid the inevitable stampede of people who will get in her way once they make an official boarding call announcement. 

“The Lynch’s, Ava and Daniel, they used to live in the house right next door with the beautiful oak tree out front. Your brothers always used to play with their son but I forgot his name and you would just kind of find yourself hanging around their daughter Becky. She was a scrawny little thing compared to you, had her mother’s orange hair and you’d always recite the same thing over and over to her about hair color, genetics, and people of Western European descent.”

Suddenly the pieces of the puzzle began to come together on their own, Charlotte didn’t even have to make an effort in trying to solve it. She remembered Becky Lynch. Her first true friend and one of the few people in her life who never made her feel like she was annoying them with all the information she would spew out. Most people — especially when she was younger — would tell her how annoying she was and that nobody cared about her ‘nerdy facts,’ but she couldn’t remember a single time where Becky seemed bothered by it. 

“They moved because Daniel got a new job in Ireland and through the years we all just kind of became busy and fell out of contact. But I’ve recently reconnected with Ava and she told me her and Daniel were coming back to the States for two weeks and were gonna make a stop here to visit some family so we decided to plan a dinner one night as well. From what I remember her telling me Becky actually lives in Los Angeles as well, she came back for college and never left apparently so she flew out here to see them for a few days.” 

“Ladies and gentlemen we will begin boarding flight 3540 in just a couple of minutes.” Charlotte was startled by the loud voice coming from the speaker in the terminal but quickly remembered where she was and where she was headed. Home. Charlotte, North Carolina. The city she was named after. She was going to see her parents. And apparently her old neighbor and friend, Becky Lynch. 

Elizabeth continued talking on the other line, she was used to her daughter being more of a listener in hopes of letting the other person on the phone distract her from her own hectic life and happenings. “If you’re up for it I’m sure you and Becky can find some common ground again and maybe catch up a little. If not, I won’t even mention you’re home, I can make a secret plate and bring it up to you just like old times.” Charlotte let out a soft laugh at that and picked up her bag as she saw the airline personnel move to their ticketing stations, signaling that they were about to begin boarding the plane. 

“It’s okay mom, I won’t let the poor girl suffer alone.” 

“Wow, kudos to whoever raised you because they did a superb job.” 

“Okay okay, settle down woman. You did alright.” 

“I raised the best doctor this world has ever seen so I think I did more than alright.” Charlotte blushed even though nobody else could hear what her mother was saying. Something about compliments really got to her no matter who was dishing them out. “Anyways, I hear the commotion going on over there so you go ahead and get on that plane and we will see you in a few hours! I’m so excited honey, four months between visits is really too long. Don’t worry, your father and I will both be at the airport waiting to pick you up.” 

Charlotte smiled at the sense of warmth she could feel radiating through her mother’s voice. It was always like this and she couldn’t ask for a better feeling. “Mom I can take an Uber you guys don't have to come get me.”

“Yes we absolutely do Charlotte, just make sure you text us as soon as you land so we know you’re safe, okay? Love you sweetie!” 

“Love you too mom, bye.” Charlotte hung up the phone just as the First Class group began to board and proceeded to make her way onto the plane and into her seat. For some reason her mind immediately went to thinking about her old friend Becky. When was the last time she had even seen Becky? 

Any other day, she might not have known the answer. She might not have even remembered who Becky was. But today? Today she knew because the number stuck out like a sore thumb. Nothing good seemed to be associated with that number these past few days and maybe it all dates back to that fateful day when her supposed best friend Becky moved away. When Charlotte was seven. Unlucky number seven.


	2. Family Dinner

When Charlotte first arrived home she spent the entire day with her parents relaxing inside the house — listening to her mother talk about her most recent gardening escapades as she cooked her favorite meals and watching whatever sport was on TV with her father while they laid on separate couches in their sweatpants and tattered t-shirts with their matching robes on. Those had been a gift from her father two Christmas’ ago and had Dr. Flair written on the back — her mother and brother had simply rolled their eyes at the dramatics of it all but Charlotte absolutely loved it. 

The second day was a different story in the sense that she had to take a proper shower and put on more than just a sports bra and a shirt that passed her foolproof ‘smells alright’ test because the Lynch family was coming over for dinner. 

So she did just that. She took a shower, washed her hair, and dressed in the only pair of blue jeans she brought with her and a white button up. It was a vast improvement from the previous day but just casual enough to make it seem like this is what she would be wearing even without guests coming over. 

When the doorbell rang and her parents went to the door to greet their guests Charlotte stood off to the side, partially hidden behind the two figures. Old habits die hard. 

She remembers hearing the commotion of old friends embracing each other, but what stood out was when she saw Becky standing there, watching the scene in front of her unfold with a smile on her face. And when her eyes finally landed on Charlotte and widened? Well, that was definitely what she will remember the most.

“What’s up first best friend?” Becky had an Irish accent despite moving back to the States years ago for college and Charlotte then and there decided that she would keep asking Becky questions for the rest of her life if it meant the other woman would answer with that accent. “You’re definitely a lot taller than I remember.”

“I think you’re the same height if memory serves me correctly.” She didn’t know why her automatic response was to be ‘frat boy Charlie’ as her brother had once referred to her when her more sarcastic and rude personality jumped out. 

“Oh come on lass, I’d barely be at your knees if that was the case!” The women both smiled at each other and embraced in a quick hug before they moved on to greeting each others parents. After that it had been pretty much smooth sailing with a comfortable conversation between the two families during dinner and then everyone going their own ways after. Elizabeth and Ava had migrated to the kitchen island to gossip over some dessert and coffee, Ric and Daniel disappeared into the den where Ric kept all the sports memorabilia he collected over the years, and Becky and Charlotte found themselves in the living room watching whatever had been playing on TV when it was turned on, glasses of wine in their hands and the already near empty bottle on the table in front of them. 

There was light banter between the two the entire time as they seemed to share a sense of humor and wittiness, Becky being a lot sharper than Charlotte, but they also got to know each other more. Charlotte learned that Becky moved to Los Angeles at the age of 18 to attend USC where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science before being accepted into the USC Gould School of Law.

She had been hired at one of the most prominent law firms in Los Angeles after passing the Bar Exam and her life had been a whirlwind since then, something Charlotte definitely related to. 

“I don’t remember the last time I spent any real time out with friends, I feel like the only meaningful relationships I have these days are in the operating room with my patients. And they’re unconscious!” 

“The person I see the most outside of my office is the delivery man from my favorite Thai restaurant, so I win there.” 

“I ask my favorite Chinese restaurant to include two sets of utensils every time I order so they think it’s not just me by myself. Your turn.” 

“You’re the last person I considered a best friend.” Both women let out a laugh before clinking their glasses together and taking another sip of their wine. “Seriously though, I hope you know that now when you go back home you always have a person you can call or text if you feel like talking but don’t want to go through the hassle of having to find time to see each other face to face.” 

“That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.” Charlotte said while putting her hand over her heart. Becky just shook her head and finished off her wine before placing the empty glass on the table. “Help yourself to another glass, there’s more where that came from.”

“Actually lass I am cutting myself off now before I start asking my parents if I can sleep over at your house tonight like the old days.” 

“Would that be such a bad thing?” Charlotte raised her eyebrow and looked at Becky, trying to see if the other woman would have any type of reaction to what she knew was one of her better attempts at flirting; however, before Becky had a chance at any type of comeback their mothers had come into the living room. 

“What are you two girls chit chatting about?” Ava asked as she took a seat on a love-seat to Charlotte’s left and as Elizabeth took a seat in the armchair to Becky’s right. 

“Well, we already discussed how depressing our personal lives are so honestly the best stuff has already passed.” Becky said while leaning back into the couch. “Turns out we’re both destined to die alone.”

“I’m sure you won’t die alone, love.” Ava said with a smile on her face as she looked at her daughter. “You can probably buy yourself a turtle or something, they don’t seem to require much human interaction and I believe they live for a long time.” 

All four of them let out a laugh at Ava’s comment before they fell into a comfortable silence, the two younger women feeling the effects of their wine and wanting nothing more than to shut their eyes and let sleep take them over, and the older two women clearly enjoying watching their daughters try and fight the alcohols effect. 

“Charlotte, honey, you might die alone.” 

“Mom!”

“Well I mean you haven’t even mentioned a girl since you broke things off with Sam and that was still back when you were interning at the hospital! You can’t blame me for assuming there were no plans in your future to woo and trick an unsuspecting pretty girl into marrying you.” 

“Maybe I just move back home, stay here with you and dad. That would be nice, right?” 

“I think now that you and Becky have reconnected it would be much easier for you to just move your stuff into her place, what with living in the same city and all. Why trouble yourself into sending your stuff all the way over here, ya know?” 

“Yeah lass, you, me and my turtle!” Charlotte downed the rest of her wine and first looked at her mother before cutting her eyes at Becky, both of them with smiles on their faces. 

“I feel like I should be insulted in many ways with this entire conversation.” Charlotte said while rolling her eyes. She felt Ava lay her hand on her shoulder and turned in her direction.

“I just want you to know that my daughter has not had a proper girlfriend since the age of 17 so she has no proper training in how to speak to a girl really. I tried, I really did, but she is always going to be this way. Don’t take what she says personally.” 

“Ma!” 

“Seventeen?” Charlotte asked in disbelief, turning back to Becky with wide eyes. 

“Oh don’t worry your pretty little head off, I did just fine for myself since then. Maybe I just didn’t want to bring any woman around this crazy family of mine.” Becky said, rolling her eyes at her mother. 

“Whatever makes you feel better about the situation, love.” Before they could continue the conversation, Ric and Daniel made their way into the living room.

“Oh thank goodness, dad will save me from this.” Becky said, reaching out her arm behind the couch. Daniel laughed and walked over to his daughter, taking hold of her hand as he stood behind her. 

“What’s the problem?” Daniel asked looking over at his wife. Ava rolled her eyes and shook her head at the dramatics of her daughter. 

“As we all know, our daughters are lesbians.” Elizabeth said in a monotone voice. “Bad ones, apparently. We’re just trying to make sure they don’t die alone and they’re getting all worked up over it. You’d think they’d be more appreciative but they’re being difficult about the whole situation.” 

“I think now is the perfect time for you and ma to say goodbye to your friends so we can go back to the hotel, and I get on the airplane tomorrow back to Los Angeles and we just continue to live our lives separately. Doesn’t that sound like a good plan?” Becky asked as she tilted her head back to look at her father. 

“It actually is getting pretty late and we should get going, so you’re in luck.” Daniel said winking at his daughter. Becky clasped her hands together in a prayer motion and began to nod her head.

“Daniel you always want to spoil my fun!” Ava said laughing as Becky shot up from the couch and walked over to where she and her mother left their purses at the beginning of the night. “Becky!” 

“Ma he said we gotta go, it’s time to go. These people? They want to sleep, they’re ready for us to leave their home. It’s rude if we stay any longer to be honest.” Everyone let out a laugh at Becky but slowly the families began to migrate towards the front door. It really was late seeing how it was approaching midnight. Charlotte found herself walking right over to where Becky stood, probably standing closer than she would be if wine wasn’t involved. “I’m glad we got to connect again, can’t wait until we’re both back in LA.” Becky said as she grabbed her purse and put it over her shoulder. 

“Yeah I’m definitely excited to go home now, continue our debate on whose life is more pitiful.” Charlotte said with a wink. 

“I wouldn’t enter a debate with a lawyer lass but if that’s how you want to spend your free time just let me know, I’m always down to prove why I’m right.” Becky leaned up on her tippy toes and threw her arms around Charlotte’s neck to give her a proper hug. “And guess what? I won’t have to ask my parents if I can spend the night.” She whispered. 

Charlotte had felt many things before the Lynch family arrived. She was nervous, maybe even outright scared that she wouldn’t be able to connect with Becky. I mean technically they knew each other but they didn’t actually know anything about each other anymore. She was worried that her sense of humor wouldn’t translate well — which was actually common. 

When they did arrive and she began to talk with Becky she felt not only relieved but also excited. It had been a long time since she was able to get to know someone without feeling awkward the whole time. Tonight nobody was forcing the conversation and even when they chose to sit in silence at times it was comfortable. 

But right now? When Becky hugged her and whispered in her ear? Charlotte felt something she hasn’t felt in a long time and she was certain she wanted to continue feeling it.


	3. The Shift

Charlotte had arrived back home in Los Angeles Saturday night, spent all of Sunday doing random house chores and shopping, and was back at work Monday morning with three separate surgical cases.

The first one was a broken and displaced collarbone that couldn’t be reduced through a closed method and required surgical intervention, her second case was a bit more challenging after an 82 year old woman had fallen and broken her hip on her front porch steps, and the third case was a three hour procedure for a broken leg and ankle suffered in a motor vehicle accident.

By the time she scrubbed out, completed all the necessary paperwork, grabbed a sandwich from the hospital cafeteria, and caught up with some of her co-workers it was approaching 8:00pm and she was ready to go home because she knew tomorrow would be the same thing, if not worse.

She usually kept the beginning of her week the busiest so she could have extra days around the weekend to complete all her errands and occasionally meet with some of her close friends. For the most part though she usually just stays inside her house and Nia and Nattie show up randomly for some drinks and gossip. Her laziness outside of work is the reason those two have their own keys to her place.

Tonight on her way out of the hospital her iWatch alerted her to a notification and when she looked down at her left wrist she saw Becky’s name across the small screen. She immediately reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her phone to open the message.

‘Hey Lass, just checking to see if you made it back ok’

‘Yup, made it back and actually leaving work right now’ She quickly typed back.

She periodically looked up to make sure she wouldn’t run into anyone or anything while walking to the parking structure where her car was located but her attention mainly stayed on her phone screen and the three dots she could see, indicating Becky was typing out her response.

‘Finally back to the working world like the rest of us, sucks huh?’

‘It’s horrible’

Charlotte made it to her car finally, a white Mercedes Benz S-Class with white interior and wood-grain trimming. This was her dream car and her second biggest purchase aside from her house, which was located in a gated Beverly Hills community. This is why no matter how much she complained about her job she wouldn’t trade it for the world. She was lucky to be able to do what she loves and make the money she was making.

She got into the driver’s seat and put her purse down into the passenger seat, turning her attention to her phone once again when she heard her text message notification alert.

‘Well I’m actually all done at the office now, was gonna just head home but I remembered you said you don’t live too far from here so I was gonna see if you wanted some company’

Charlotte’s eyes got wide as she stared at the message. She absolutely did not want company, but that was right up until that message came in. Suddenly she loved the idea of company.

She typed out three different responses, deciding they were either too corny or too passive, before she finally settled on a classic ‘Sure!’ She sent a follow up message with her address and let Becky know she would be home in about half an hour before she put her phone down and started driving out of structure.

On her way home she began to question everything. Did she clean enough the day before? Did she leave things out in her kitchen or living room? When was the last time she changed her sheets? Why was she even wondering about her sheets? She definitely didn’t have any plans to let it get that far with Becky. Not tonight at least. Did Becky have those plans? Did she send the right address and code for the gate out front?

Charlotte wasn’t the type to use her phone while driving, she has seen enough injuries at work to put that fear in her thank you very much.

But the first red light she stopped at? Fair game.

She quickly grabbed her phone to check that she had, in fact, sent the correct address to Becky. She let out a deep breath and put her phone back down, spending the remainder of her drive going over the basics her mother taught her when entertaining guests.

Make sure your house is not too cold or too hot, offer your guest something to drink, excuse yourself occasionally to go to the restroom and check your teeth if red wine is involved, and 'don’t drink tequila because it makes you cry Charlotte!’

In her defense, that last one only happened one or two times a month. Maybe three times. Certainly no more than six times a month and she’s going to her grave believing that. Plus, she usually kept that contained to inside her home. Or at Nia's house. Sometimes at Nattie’s house if her cat shows affection because he hates everyone and it's such a gift when he doesn't try to claw you to death. And then one time at a Beyonce concert, but have you truly lived your best life if you haven't let the power of Beyonce move you?

When she finally made it home she did a quick run through to make sure everything was presentable and about 15 minutes later, when she was fluffing the couch pillows for the third time, the doorbell rang.

“It’s me again!” Becky had announced with a smile on her face when Charlotte opened the door. The taller woman laughed and stepped aside.

“Come on in.” She led Becky to the living room where they both took a seat on the couch facing each other. “So how was your day?”

“Tiring as hell but what else do I expect? Everyone wants to be represented by the best so here I am, the best .” Becky said with a smirk on her face. “Anyways, what are we watching?” She turned towards the TV and Charlotte followed suit.

“Oh just some lighthearted stuff, Law and Order SVU.” Charlotte said with a laugh.

“You know this show is what made me realize I want to be a lawyer?”

“How?”

“So I was just watching TV over one summer ya know? Had nothing to do, no summer job and wasn’t interested in joining any of the sports teams like all the other kids were doing so I would just kind of stay home all day hanging out by myself. One day an episode came on and then another one after that and another after that.”

“Ah yes, the infamous Law and Order marathons.”

“Right! I’m watching and watching, nothing could tear me away from the TV. My brothers came back from wherever they were, my Ma comes back from wherever she was at, my dad comes back from his job and I’m still in my room watching.”

“Shouldn’t this make you want to be a police officer?”

“That’s what I thought as well for all of two seconds before they introduced me to the New York Assistant DA herself, Alexandra Cabot. When that woman showed up on my screen I was hooked.”

“So she inspired you to be a lawyer?”

“No, she solidified for me the fact that I was a lesbian and also that I was going to go to law school if it meant I could find someone like her there.”

“Are you serious?”

“Charlotte Flair I do not ever joke about ADA Cabot. From that moment on I was a changed person. I started taking my schooling more seriously just to make sure I would make the grades to get accepted into a school out here. I knew this was what I wanted, I wanted to find my own Alexandra Cabot.”

“And how did that work out?”

“Turns out what you see on TV isn’t always 100% true because none of those girls were anything like her." She said with a laugh. "But I figured I was already here and might as well keep going. So I did, and here I am. Becky Lynch, one of the top lawyers in the state of California. And as of a few days ago? Destined to die with a pet turtle by my side.”

“I can’t believe you became a lawyer because of your own quest to bang a hot lawyer.”

“First of all I had plans to marry one of those hot lawyers after I got it all out of my system so don’t try to make me sound like a bad guy, okay?”

“And what about now? I mean you work in a firm full of lawyers and I’m sure you meet lawyers from all over the world at different events, any of them come close?”

“None of them. But it’s not their fault because the standards are set way too high. What are the chances I find a smart, tall, blonde woman with a blinding white smile and an ability to keep up with me?”

Charlotte was pretty sure her neighbors could hear her heart pounding in that moment. Something shifted in the atmosphere.

“I mean, do you know anyone that fits that description?” Becky kept her gaze on Charlotte, almost daring her to continue down this path.

“I’m a tall.”

Charlotte blinked a few times, trying to figure out if this was real life. There was no way, right? She was a doctor. She went to medical school! She graduated at the top of her class from every single school she went to!

When she heard Becky start laughing hysterically though, she knew this was, in fact, real life. She had said that.

“I’m a tall!” Becky shouted through her laughter. “I’m a tall!”

“Okay stop! I didn’t mean it!” Charlotte knew there was no getting out of this, Becky was not going to let this go anytime soon.

“I’m gonna pee my pants!”

“Becky stop! This is so embarrassing!” It was no use, the more she tried to diffuse the situation the more Becky would laugh. “Please don’t tell anyone.”

“Oh come on, who am I gonna tell? Other than my parents, and my brothers, and obviously your parents and your brother. And my turtle. For sure going to post it on my Facebook and Instagram stories. Other than that though, you’re safe.”

“Becky!” The other girl continued to laugh and Charlotte shook her head. “If you promise not to tell anyone I will personally buy you that damn turtle and everything you need for it.”

“Counteroffer, I tell everyone and make shirts.”

The room got quiet for two seconds before the laughter started up again.

By the time Becky decided it was late and she had to get going so they’d both be able to function the next morning, they had discussed multiple subjects including their schooling experiences, Becky’s difficulty trying to acclimate first to Dublin then to Los Angeles, the death of Charlotte’s younger brother while she was in college, and even some of their plans for the future.

When she left, Charlotte had taken a shower and gotten into bed fully prepared to drift right off to sleep, but a message came in from Becky letting her know she got home safe and that turned into an hour long text conversation between the two.

Charlotte finally decided to be the responsible one and cut it off when Becky sent her a screenshot of her contact information being stored under the name ‘A Tall’ with a hospital, blonde woman, and crown emoji next to it.

***

A week had passed and the same banter had continued between the two for the most part. Text messages were being sent back and forth due to their busy schedules, but the next time they both had a free night Charlotte had gone over to Becky’s house.

Becky lived in a condo in Manhattan Beach right down the street from the water, and that night they both enjoyed a nice breeze on the roof with a bottle of wine split between them.

Although they lived a rather good distance from one another, approximately 45 minutes depending on traffic, Charlotte made sure she stuck to her plan of making sure that no matter what circumstance she found herself in, she would catch a Lyft home. 

Becky had told her she was free to stay, a guest room all ready; however, to continue with the strict friendship boundaries they were both for some reason going along with Charlotte had declined the offer and gone back home. 

She spoke to her mom about the whole situation, she felt like maybe there was a possibility of something more than friendship with Becky, but she also knew that her last relationships made it difficult to completely accept that fact. 

Her mother had tried to tell her on multiple occasions that she couldn’t base her present and future on the past, but Charlotte was sure that she was the common denominator in her relationships; therefore, it had to be her who was responsible for their demise. 

That’s why she tried her best to make sure she stayed friends with Becky and nothing more. She couldn’t imagine things going south and her losing this woman as both a partner, and most importantly, a friend. 

Becky also didn’t seem to want to ruin a good thing. She never seemed bothered by the fact that no matter how hard she flirted with Charlotte, nothing ever went passed that. She would get her all flustered, make her blush on several occasions, but she never attempted to go any further or call Charlotte out on it. It’s almost as if she knew Charlotte was going through her own inner demons and left it up to her to decide where the future would lead them. 

It was only the first time they had gone out together that things began to change for the two.

Charlotte had told Becky that her best friends and her were meeting at a bar Friday evening and that she was more than welcome to join them because it was close to her office. If anyone were to ask her, Charlotte would swear she didn’t petition for that specific bar because of its location. 

Becky met the group there and immediately hit it off with Nia and Nattie, as most people usually do. Charlotte was actually never worried about that part. Her fear came from the idea that the three would get along too well, and that stories from both sides would begin to flow freely. 

She had every right to be worried. All of her friends, including Becky, were loose cannons.

It came as no surprise to her when she returned to their table from the restroom that the three were deep into a conversation regarding her. 

“One time I just remember her going off on our Anthropology professor because he mixed up two cultural behaviors and that man did not come back to the lecture hall the following two days.” Nia had said shaking her head. 

Charlotte met Nia her second year of college and they hit it off right away after they both sat in the back row of a History class even though they loved the subject because they hated the idea of being friendly with others around them. Maybe it also had to do with the fact that they were both younger than everyone else in their class and that served as a common bond between them as well.

They had gone on to live off campus together after that year in an apartment with Nattie, who Nia had known previously and introduced Charlotte to. It had been them three since then. 

Nia had completed her undergraduate studies in Psychology and gone on to eventually obtain her Ph.D. in Social Work before taking a job in Los Angeles. She originally planned to go back to her hometown of San Diego; however, a job in the city had opened up and was too good of an offer to pass up. Plus, LA had Charlotte. San Diego had significantly less upside. 

Nattie joined them just a little under a year ago when she and her husband moved from Florida after their gym business took off and they opened two locations in LA. Charlotte was ecstatic about the fact that both of her best friends were in the same city as her but also that she never had to pay for a gym membership again. 

“I think my favorite Charlotte is college Charlotte so far.” Becky said as she raised her glass of beer in Charlotte’s direction. The taller woman just rolled her eyes and took her seat again. “I’m bummed I missed her, but I heard that with enough alcohol involved she sometimes comes out to play.”

“Nattie!” Charlotte barked at her friend. She knew Nattie had to have been the one to share those type of stories. Nia was always just as wrecked as Charlotte, if not more, and wouldn’t remember what happened. Nattie though? She was always the more responsible, sober one. She was two years ahead of them and had lived out her crazy college days, she was content just watching the other two make fools out of themselves. 

“I was tricked into telling her stories.” Nattie said with her arms raised in surrender. “One second she’s telling me about how she rode a bike into a river while drunk and the next thing I know I’m telling her about the time you went skinny dipping in the school pool.”

“Trust me when I tell you that I am gutted I missed that, lass.” Becky said with a wink. Charlotte blushed and looked over at Nia who was laughing. 

“Woman you were right there with me in that pool so I don’t know why you’re laughing. Just because Nattie didn’t have to jump in to save you doesn’t make you any better.”

“Wait, what?” Becky asked. 

“We definitely didn’t tell her that part, but thanks for offering to be the one to do it.” Nia said with a smirk on her face. Charlotte groaned and took another sip of her drink. 

“It’s whatever, Nattie had to get in because I maybe forgot how to swim for like two seconds.” 

“Girl you were a wreck!” Nia added. “Becky she had a full on fit when she kept bouncing around further and further towards the deep end and then the water got to her neck.”

“I think it finally hit her that she was drunk when she couldn’t reach the bottom of the pool anymore and that’s when everything just went wrong for her.” Nattie said. 

“Okay but I’m sure I would have figured it out by myself too though, you just jumped in right away and didn’t give me enough time to find my sea legs.”

“Um no girl, you already started yelling about how you were peeing yourself. I think she jumped in at the right time to save your dramatic ass.” Nia said rolling her eyes. 

“Okay there’s still no proof that I did actually pee myself. I don’t remember doing it. I think I was just saying stuff at that point.” Charlotte said trying to defend herself. “Plus thanks for being a real friend and saving me Nattie, not like this one over here who was in the pool and yet swimming in the opposite direction.”

“I ain’t swimming in your pee, nope. Sorry.” Nia said waving her off. 

“I don’t understand how you guys didn’t get caught.” Becky said as she sat there and just took in everything that was happening. She absolutely loved the dynamic between the three girls. 

“Oh we did, but it was by some poor freshman who was in charge of locking up for the night. He didn’t know what hit him when Nia began to lay on the charm.” Nattie laughed. “Especially because she did it without putting all her clothes back on. She just stood there in front of him with her bra and underwear on and told him why it would mean so much to us if he didn’t tell anyone.”

“He never stood a chance.” Nia said with a smirk on her face. “And then this weeping willow, still holding onto Nattie for dear life even though she was back in the shallow end standing on her own two feet, almost ruined it because there was nothing sexy about that.”

“I was traumatized!” Charlotte said as she threw her napkin in Nia’s direction. 

“Whatever. We ended up getting out of there without any problems in the end and when we got back to Nattie’s car we vowed never to speak of what happened again.”

“Well, we failed there.” Charlotte stated, pointing out the obvious. 

“True. But there’s way more stories that are worse and we never told those to anyone so we’re not failing that bad.” Nia said shrugging her shoulders. 

“Yeah? Like which ones?” Becky asked. 

“Oh, like the time when these two set fire to someones car.” 

“Nattie!” Charlotte and Nia yelled. 

“Oops. See? I told you she’s tricky!” Nattie defended herself. “Well anyways, now that she knows it happened I might as well tell her how and why.” 

Charlotte and Nia both groaned and let Nattie tell the story. One day they would pay her back for all of this, they were sure of it. But for now? They were just going to have to sit back and take the punches. They say that if you do the crime you should expect to do the time; well, it seemed like they were going to be doing life for their crimes as long as Nattie was around. 

***

They had stayed out for a lot longer than they originally planned that night and although they cut themselves off from alcohol at the right time, not everyone else at the bar shared that idea. 

It wasn’t the first time it happened, someone at the bar coming over to their table and becoming a little too comfortable there. Man or woman, they’ve seen it happen before. For the most part it’s harmless, someone makes a fool of themselves for a while and then they go about their way. Harmless fun really. 

Sometimes though, people overstay their welcome. And this was one of those times. 

A man had approached the table when Nia and Nattie had gone to the restroom and vacated their chairs. He asked if the chairs were free and Becky and Charlotte both shook their heads, letting him know they needed them. Instead of walking away like any normal person would do, he decided to take a seat in one of the chairs. 

He asked their names, where they were from, who they were with, and other random questions that would pop into his head. They kept their answers short and simple, Becky doing the talking for the both of them once she picked up on Charlotte’s body language. 

She had put both of her hands in her lap, become slightly hunched over and kept her eyes mostly on the table. Becky didn’t need to know why Charlotte had that reaction, that wasn’t of interest to her. She just wanted to help ease the situation. 

“Listen lad our friends are coming back from the restroom so you should probably go back to your group now.” 

“We can’t share? I’m sure they wouldn’t mind us all being friends, come on.”

“I’m asking you nicely now but we can always change it up if you want to be hardheaded about the situation.”

“Oh so now you’re Mr. Tough Guy, huh?”

“I’m not anything until I have to be. Come on guy, get gone. There’s nothing here for you.” Becky saw his gaze turn towards Charlotte and a smirk come across his face. “Including her.” She said with certainty.

“I think we should let her decide, she’s been quiet the whole time. Let her speak for herself.”

“She doesn’t have to say a single word. I already know she, along with every other woman in his bar actually, wants nothing to do with you. So I’m gonna ask you one more time to leave before I get out of my seat and this becomes something you probably didn’t expect it to be.” 

Becky shifted in her seat, ready for the situation to escalate; however, when she felt Charlotte reach over and take her hand she immediately forgot about the man sitting across from them and focused on the other woman. 

“Wait wait wait, is this why you want me gone so bad? Afraid your girlfriend might want to jump ship?” 

“Might want to what?” Becky asked, letting go of Charlotte’s hand and attempting to get up from her seat. Lucky for the man across the way though, Charlotte had great strength and was able to reach over in time to grab Becky by her waist and hold her in place. 

Nia and Nattie had also returned to the table at that time and realized quickly what was going on. 

“You picked the wrong table tonight buddy, let’s go.” Nia said as she and Nattie pushed the man out of the chair and watched him stumble a few feet away, knocking into another group of guys standing around. “We already paid the bill at the bar so we can just get going before Becky rearranges that man’s face and he needs Charlotte to put it back together and Becky ends up having to defend herself in court.”

“Becky Balboa baby! He wouldn’t leave on his own two feet tonight if Charlotte didn’t stop me, I can promise you that.”

The girls all laughed as they began to calm down from the situation. After they left the bar they all grabbed their phones to summon a Lyft; however, Becky gently took Charlotte’s phone from her and shook her head. 

“What are you doing?”

“I’d feel more comfortable if we shared a ride.”

“Becky trust me, I’m fine.”

“I didn’t say you weren’t lass, maybe I just want to spend more time with you.”

“Smooth operator.” Nia and Nattie began to softly sing a few feet away. Becky stuck up her middle finger at them but continued to keep her eyes on Charlotte.

“If it’ll make you feel better, we can share a Lyft.”

“Oh man, do you remember the last time we shared a Lyft?” Nattie asked her two best friends. Nia and Charlotte both jumped forward to try and cover her mouth with their hands. 

“Save that story for another time Nattie, our ride is pulling up.” Becky said as she took Charlotte by the hand and began to drag her away. “We should definitely be doing this once a week, I had a great time. Thanks for accepting me into your crazy little group, next time I’ll bring my friends and we can make our own stories that we never want told in public again.”

“We’re probably gonna end up on the news if that happens.” Nia said. “I’m game!” 

“Okay you guys, get out of here. Be safe.” Nattie said waving them off. “My ride is here too.” 

“Text me when you guys get home! Bye!” Charlotte said as she followed Becky into their waiting car. “I hope you had a good time.”

“Are you kidding? That was a blast!” Becky said. “Let me tell you something though, I’m forever going to be upset that I missed out on college Charlotte because she seems like my type of woman.”

“She was certainly something, that’s for sure.” Charlotte said, letting a smile take over her face and her body sink further into the seat. 

“Can I tell you something though?”

“Always.”

“This Charlotte? The one I’m getting to know again? She’s probably always going to be my favorite.” Becky reached over and took Charlotte’s hand again, an unspoken understanding passing between the two. They were friends right now, getting to know each other every day. But they both also knew that a shift was happening slowly and they had no plans to fight it.


	4. Trust

It had been a month of phone calls back and forth, text messages throughout the day — starting with a ‘good morning’ from whoever woke up first and ending with a ‘goodnight’ when they were both in their own bed — and hanging out inside watching TV or outside grabbing dinner and drinks whenever they found time. 

Becky had even joined Nattie’s gym, spending every Saturday and Sunday morning with Charlotte and Nia. She also got to meet more people in Charlotte’s life that way, including the twins, Nikki and Brie. They were personal trainers at the gym with Nikki being Charlotte’s trainer because of her affinity for weight training. Brie had offered to work with Becky the first day she came in because they both enjoyed CrossFit and now they worked out together every time. 

She also began to frequent the gym during the week without Charlotte, either before or after work depending on her schedule, and even brought in some of her own friends. Sasha, another lawyer at the firm, and Paige, who Becky had met in college, also became regulars. 

The two group of friends meshed extremely well and Charlotte was glad that this was becoming her new normal. She always felt worried that her life would be somewhat stuck on autopilot because of her job. It’s hard to make new friends when you’re either always at work or inside your home. And it’s always easier to use those excuses than to put in real effort to change things. 

Now that things were changing though she started to feel more excited about the day when she would wake up, no matter how busy she knew her schedule at work was. Today was no different. 

“I’m doing night rounds so you’re going to have to just watch the next episode without me.” She told Becky over her car’s bluetooth as she pulled into the parking structure. 

“Don’t be a dope, I’m not going to watch without you. The next episode they have to make a strudel and I can’t handle that pressure on my own.” 

“Well once I get home tomorrow morning I’ll probably go straight to sleep, and by the time I wake up you’ll be home from work so we can watch then.” She pulled into her designated parking spot and proceeded to exit her car. 

“That sounds doable. I’ll let you go now but don’t forget our deal!” 

“If anyone comes in with something stuck up their butt you will be the first one I call.”

“Thank you. Text me when you get home.”

“I don’t want to bother you when you’re at work. But don’t worry I’ll be fine, nobody can kidnap me when the sun is out.” 

“For someone so smart you sure are dumb sometimes. People get kidnapped in the daytime all the time and you know this! We have seen so many documentaries together on this very subject.”

“Yes but if you look at the statistics—”

“I work with words.”

“Well, technically, statistics are word problems in a way.”

“I’m going to hang up now but don’t take it personally, I just don’t want to talk to you anymore.”

“Fair enough.”

“I’ll be waiting for your text tomorrow to let me know you haven’t been kidnapped!”

*** 

Growing up, Charlotte was never one to panic about what she couldn’t control. She studied enough about the human race, the universe, and the logistics of history repeating itself. She knew that in order to have good days then there had to be bad days because otherwise, how would anyone know they were having a good day?

Today, she knew she was having a good day. She woke up, had a good workout and breakfast to follow, completed some chores around her home, was able to finally take her clothes to the dry-cleaner, and even bought a new carton of milk to replace the bad one in her fridge. This definitely classified as a good day. 

So when she got to work for her night shift she expected things to continue to flow smoothly. Nothing that had happened so far would lead her to believe otherwise. And furthermore, she had gotten a text from Bayley, the Pediatric Attending, letting her know that she also had the night shift. 

It was when they both finally finished their first set of rounds and met in the break room on the fourth floor, Pediatrics, that Charlotte’s good day became somewhat complicated.

“Is it awkward for you when it’s this quiet? I mean, usually during the day it’s crazy up here.” She said as she sipped on her tea while sitting on the couch, her legs stretched out on the table in front of her. 

“It’s not awkward but it definitely has a weird aura about it and I can never figure it out.” Bayley answered from beside her. “It’s like, is no noise a good thing or a bad thing?” 

“I don’t know how you do it woman, this is the one specialty I knew right away I would not even give a try.” 

“Don’t get me wrong there are definitely days where I think I made the biggest mistake of my life, but then I find one of my patients roaming the halls in their princess dress or superhero pajamas and they give me the biggest smile they can muster up and extend their arms out for a hug and everything just fits into place.”

“Oh. I’d probably drink way more than I do now.”

“Nah, in a way it’s just as therapeutic as it is detrimental for your health.”

“I think I’ll just stick to my uncoordinated bone breaking dummies.”

“That’s fine too.” 

They fell into a comfortable silence as a few more doctors and nurses made their way in and out of the break room, everyone looking for their next pick-me-up to get them through another couple of hours before the morning shift came in. It was approaching 3:00AM and Charlotte was hoping the rest of the night would go as smoothly as the beginning of it had, checking vitals, going over orders, and occasionally having to make changes to treatment due to minor spikes seen on monitors. 

The funny thing about hope, and Charlotte knows this, is that it means you’re able to see the light despite all of the darkness surrounding you. So in order to have hope, you need darkness. Good days and bad days. It was all connected. 

All of the staff in the break room got the alert at the same time. Code Silver. Either a weapon or hostage situation was taking place somewhere in the hospital and a lockdown was enforced. They all immediately got alerts on their phones as well, as per the hospital safety protocol, which detailed the situation further. 

There was a gunshot victim who came into the ER and the gunman had followed.

It wasn’t the first time Charlotte had been involved in a Code Silver, but it didn’t make the situation any less nerve-racking. The first ting she did was text her parents to let them know what was happening and that she was in the hospital but safe on the fourth floor, away from the first floor where the ER was located. 

She also shot off a text to Nattie and Nia to let them know things are okay because she knew they would be getting up in a few hours and would most likely see the news story on their TV while getting ready for work. 

This was her standard, normal practice. Text her parents then text her best friends and be done with it. They would tell her to be safe and she would check in with them every half hour to calm everyones nerves. But other than that? She didn’t bother sending additional texts out and wasting more battery than necessary, especially because there was no way of telling how long the lockdown would last. She needed all the battery she could get for those CandyCrush levels.

The only thing she knew she had to do differently this time was text Becky as well, and that was the problem. She wasn’t quite sure how to begin that conversation and how to make the other woman understand that although it seemed like the worst possible scenario to be in, she was technically safe and away from the danger. 

One of the doctors in the room turned on the TV and everyone in the room turned their attention to the local news channel that popped up, waiting to see when the story would break. 

“I’m gonna go check on my patients, you want to go with me?” Bayley asked as she stood up. Charlotte nodded her head and followed her. 

This helped, doing their job and not focusing on what was happening downstairs. Bayley would do her rounds and they’d make small talk and pretend that everything was normal. Just like all the other people roaming the halls, both on their floor and those below and above them. Maybe it wasn’t the safest way to go about the situation but Charlotte had been through this type of ordeal three times before and she knew that sitting in one place and thinking of all the different ways things could go wrong also did nothing for anyones psyche. 

“Was your mom awake when you sent her a text?” She asked Bayley as they walked down the hall. 

“Yeah, she was getting ready to take the dogs out. She’s probably gonna call me when she gets back in the house. Your parents?”

“My dad was, he said he would wake my mom up and let her know. At least they’re all on the east coast and we’re not disturbing their sleep.”

“My brother will probably freak out when he wakes up.”

“He’s going to be the first one waiting outside to take you home when we get the clear signal.”

“Ugh, I know! He thinks I’m still his baby sister no matter how old we are.”

“Well, technically you are his baby sister.”

“Whatever.” They continued to walk past the rooms, glancing inside to make sure the kids were asleep. 

When they came to a room where a young boy was sitting up and playing with a few toys in his bed, Charlotte let Bayley go in alone. She truly meant it when she said Pediatrics was never going to be her thing. 

While she waited outside of the room she looked down at her phone and looked at the time. Becky would be asleep for another hour before she had to get up for work. Charlotte debated waiting, letting Becky wake up and initiate the conversation, but then she remembered what type of person Becky was and she knew that was just asking for trouble. 

She finally typed out a message letting the other woman know that the hospital was on lockdown because there was a gunman in the ER but she was away from the danger and behind multiple locked and sealed doors. 

“I cannot believe I had to bargain with a seven year old just to make him go to sleep.” Charlotte laughed as Bayley came out of the room shaking her head. “Do you know how embarrassing it is that I have to keep putting in orders for extra pudding cups?”

“Yes but that’s why all of these kids love you.”

“They love their pudding cups, they just tolerate me because they know I’m the gatekeeper.”

“Take what they give you woman, you know they’re the most ruthless people in this whole building.” 

“Ain’t that the truth!” 

They continued to make small talk as they walked the halls and eventually came full circle, arriving back at the break room. They walked inside and Charlotte spotted two of her favorite Pediatric nurses sitting in the corner. She met them through Bayley and knew right away that they were perfect for this department and the children. 

“Oy! This isn’t your floor missy so if we have to ration supplies you are last on the list, you hear me?” Peyton said pointedly in her direction as she got closer to them. 

“It’s literally been like 45 minutes, I think we’re going to be fine.” Charlotte said as she rolled her eyes. Peyton was sitting across from Billie, the two women resting their outstretched legs on each others chairs. 

“She’s just making sure you understand the natural order of things up here mate.” Billie said with a shrug. 

“I’ll share with you Charlotte, don’t worry.” Bayley said with a laugh. 

“You’re just one spot above her on the list.” Peyton said with a smirk. 

“What? I’m the Attending!” 

“Yes but you’re also the reason we will probably have way less dessert to go around.” Peyton pointed out.

*** 

When 5:00AM hit the lockdown story had broken on every local news channel and Charlotte was still in the break room with her coworkers, waiting for updates. She knew that Becky’s alarm goes off right at 5:00AM and she would be seeing her text message any second.

Bayley had gone off again to make sure everything was okay with her patients and Charlotte stayed with Peyton and Billie this time, both of whom were on their phones and completely uninterested in what was happening around them. 

Her phone ringing caused her to divert her attention from the TV and when she saw Becky’s name flash on the screen she took a death breath before answering.

“Good morning.” 

“Are you okay?” Becky sounded so unsteady and unsure of herself, something Charlotte had yet to experience with the other woman. 

“I’m fine, honestly.” She heard Becky let out a deep breath of her own on the other end. “I don’t want you to worry too much, it’s not the first time this has happened. But I promise you that I’m safe and most likely will be headed home in about an hour based on what the folks downstairs are letting us know.”

“You’re just going to go home? You’re just going to leave a building where there is a man with a gun and you’re going to get in your car and go home? And then what? You can’t go to sleep because that seems impossible and obviously you can’t go out anywhere because look at what happens in the outside world. You can’t go out there, I won’t allow it.” 

Charlotte stayed quiet on her end and allowed Becky to ramble. She figured it was best to just let her exhaust herself. 

“Do they just expect you to walk yourself to the car? Obviously they need to have SWAT there and they need to make sure you get into your car and home safe. Someone should follow you home, that’s a good idea.” 

Charlotte let out a sigh as she saw Peyton looking directly at her with a smirk on her face. She knew that with the volume in Becky’s voice it meant that Peyton could hear just enough for Charlotte to have to explain the situation once she hung up. 

“Go to the nearest window and wave, I want to see if I can find you on one of the channels and make sure you’re okay.” Charlotte rolled her eyes at the dramatics being displayed by the woman on the other end of the phone. “Wait, actually, no…stay away from any and all windows. Where are you anyways? I hope it’s some kind of dark and well protected storage closet as far away from all doors and windows as possible.”

Charlotte saw Billie become aware of her conversation next and then the two other women had their complete attention on her, forgetting about their phones for once. 

“Hey Bex, do you mind if I call you back when I get out of here?” 

“Obviously I mind.” She heard Becky scoff. “To me it doesn’t make any sense to hang up the phone now because, and I can’t stress this enough, you’re in the same building as a man with a gun.”

“Once again, I’m on the fourth floor away from any danger.”

“She’s away from any danger. A man with a gun in the same building means nothing to her. She’s invincible. Nothing has ever gone wrong in the history of forever and therefore, she is away from any danger.” 

“Okay I could see why —”

Before Charlotte could finish what she was saying, an ‘All Clear’ could be heard. Immediately the room began to clear, everyone ready to finally go home. Everyone but Billie and Peyton, who continued to sit with Charlotte. 

“Earth to Charlotte, you still there lass?” 

“Yeah, I’m still here. They just let us know it’s all clear so I really do have to go now. I’m gonna go downstairs and finish up some orders and then head home.” 

“Do you think I could see you?” Becky asked, her voice once again carrying a weight of uncertainty with it. 

“Sure, do you want to come by after work?”

“I was thinking more like when you get home.”

“You’re going to be late for work.”

“They can handle one day without me.”

“Becky, I’m fine.”

“Maybe I’m not.” 

*** 

“So how long are we all going to pretend like you don’t have a girlfriend, mate?” Peyton asked as she and Billie followed Charlotte out of the break room and towards the elevator.

“Yeah, this is big news. I mean big news! Obviously poor Sheila in Plastics is going be crushed because she really thought this would be the year you’d finally look in her direction.” Billie added. “Strange that you’d keep something like this from us though mate, best friends do not act like this.”

“We are definitely not best friends.” 

“Oh okay, sure, you spend hours trapped in a building with someone and you don’t know if you’re ever going to make it out but you’re still apparently not best friends. Wow.” Billie shook her head. 

The elevator finally arrived and Charlotte got on with a smile on her face. “Sorry ladies, I gotta go to my own department now. Maybe we can catch up another time.”

“This isn’t over Dr. Flair, we have unfinished business with you.” Peyton said. 

“Yeah, and we’re telling Bayley!” Billie said before the elevators doors closed.

*** 

Charlotte Flair does not have a girlfriend. She is well aware that she hasn’t had one in a while but she’s certain that the basics of it haven’t changed; therefore, she is confident in saying she doesn’t have a girlfriend. 

She has Becky though. Which was a start. 

When she pulled into her driveway at home she parked next to the now all too familiar Jaguar and proceeded to go inside. She had told Becky to just let herself in using the spare key she kept hidden in one of the potted plants outside, so the other woman was waiting for her as soon as she opened the front door. 

Strong arms wrapped themselves around her neck, and she felt more than heard both of them let out a heavy sigh simultaneously. The weight of the entire night and morning had finally resonated with Charlotte and she was glad she finally had someone to be there for her when it did. 

“I asked your mom if you would go for the idea of living in an underground bunker for the rest of our lives but she said you probably wouldn’t agree.” Becky mumbled and Charlotte couldn’t help but let out a light laugh. 

“She’s right. You okay?”

“Am I okay?” Becky released her hold on Charlotte and took a step back. “I’ve never been less okay in my life. Did you bring any of the good stuff back home from the hospital to sedate me with? Because I think we need to bring in reinforcements for me to ever be okay again.”

“Alright how about I go change and take a shower and then we can both just lay out on the couch watching TV and calm down together.”

“Sure, I’ll walk you to the shower.”

“Becky!”

“It’s a big house Charlotte! Who knows what can happen between here and there?” 

*** 

Charlotte came out of the bathroom towel-drying her hair when she saw Becky sitting cross legged on her bed. 

“Have you just been sitting here since I went in?”

“No.”

“Becky.”

“I got up twice to pee. You take long showers.” 

“Okay well let’s just stay in here then, at least turn the TV on.” Charlotte said as she threw the remote from the bedside table at Becky and proceeded to tie her hair up in a bun. 

“Do you want to watch anything in particular?” Becky asked as she watched Charlotte move around the room, never taking her eyes off of the other woman. 

“We left on the strudel, right?” Charlotte asked as she climbed into her bed under the covers, letting her muscles finally get the rest they so longed for. “Start it up woman.” 

“Are you sure you don’t want to just go to sleep? You look exhausted.”

“Thanks.” 

“I don’t mean it in a bad way. You look good. I mean, you do look exhausted but you still look good. Exhaustion looks good on you.” Becky continued. “Never seen exhaustion look so good, to be honest.”

“Stop talking.”

“Yup.” Becky nodded and pursed her lips. “I mean it though, anything looks good on you. Like that wet mop on top of your head that you’re trying to pass off as your hair? Looks perfect on you lass.”

“Get out of my house.”

“Not a chance!” Becky laughed and proceeded to lay down on top of the covers as she finally found their show and pressed play. “I’m gonna have to go shopping soon, this is a terrible pillow.” 

“Oh so you plan to make this a regular thing, then?” 

“You like me, it’s obvious.” Charlotte let out a scoff. “We can make this official whenever you’re ready.”

“I definitely expect to be wined and dined before I even think of making anything official with anyone. Your mother was right when she said you were an idiot when it came to girls.”

“I doubt she said it like that.”

“Where do you want the screenshot of that exact text from three weeks ago sent?” 

“Let’s just focus on the big picture here, okay? You almost died today.”

“I feel like maybe you haven’t been listening to me all morning regarding the lockdown.”

“I get it! You were on the fourth floor, but it was still the same building.” Becky paused the TV since they weren’t paying much attention to it anyways and turned on her side to face Charlotte. The other woman mirrored her. “I know we’ve gone over this but I just need to know one more time that you’re okay.” 

Charlotte reached her arm over towards Becky and found her hand, locking their pinkies together. “I’m fine. And I’m right here, so maybe we should try to get some sleep since we’ve both got an entire day to do nothing ahead of us.” 

“Maybe we can have lunch.”

“That’s definitely in my plans today.”

“Maybe we can share those plans. Like, together. Make them our plans so when you’re eating lunch I’ll also be eating lunch. In the same place as you…same table and stuff. I could pay.” 

Charlotte raised her eyebrow. She couldn’t believe what was happening. “Your mother was absolutely right, you’re the absolute worst with this stuff.”

“Hey!” 

“Holy shit woman, how have you ever gotten laid?”

“I’m trying my best can you please stop attacking me?” Charlotte let out a laugh and rolled over onto her back, pulling out the pillow underneath her and putting it on top of her head. 

“I’m genuinely embarrassed for you.” She mumbled underneath the pillow. Becky let out a low grumble and pulled the pillow off. 

“Charlotte Flair, will you do me the honor of going out on a date with me?” She asked sincerely. 

“Yes.” There was a pause as both women fell silent. 

“Oh. Well, that was easy. You’re kind of an easy gal, huh? Good to know.”

“And there goes the moment.” Charlotte rolled her eyes as she turned back over onto her side to look at Becky. “It’s gonna be a real shame when I have to tell your mother why I killed you.” 

“Okay, okay lass, I’m just kidding. No need to threaten violence…unless that’s what you’re into. Is that your kink?” Becky asked with a mischievous smile. “No…can’t be. Your kink for sure involves some kind of like science experiment or math equation.” 

“You definitely gotta get out of my house, you’ve overstayed your welcome.” Both women let out a laugh before they found themselves in a comfortable silence. 

They continued to lay on their sides facing one another, smiles on their faces. Becky slowly reached over and took Charlottes hand, bringing it closer to her before locking their pinkies together again. 

“I know that we’re maybe not doing things the traditional way, what with me being in your bed before the first date and all…but I want you to know that I fully believe we can make this work. I know what happened in your past relationships is the reason you’re so guarded today and I don’t blame you, but I also know that I’m thankful for that.” Charlotte raised her eyebrow in confusion. “What if you had already found someone before me, huh? Then I’d just be stuck pining after you and I don’t think I’d be able to ever just be your friend Charlotte, that’s not what my purpose in this life is.” 

“Everyone has a tendency to leave when they find the smallest opportunity, and that’s a fear that’s deeply rooted in me. I’ve done everything in the past I could think of, I’ve changed my work schedule, how I look, how I act…hell, once I even tried to change the way I walk. It just never seems to be good enough and I’m honestly so tired of trying to be someone I’m not. That’s why I’ve been so standoffish when it came to the idea of a relationship with anyone, I just want to be me.” 

“I know it won’t be easy but I hope you learn to trust me when I say that I want the same thing for you. I think I hold the title for the worst track record when it comes to relationships because of my wilder younger days…but I’m also a person that believes everything happens for a reason. I think I was so disinterested in all the girls before because I was waiting for this. We were both waiting for this.” 

Becky studied Charlottes face as she saw a tear slide down her cheek. 

“I trust that you have good intentions.” Charlotte wanted to say more, to be able to say she trusted Becky wholeheartedly, but they’d both know that was a lie. She wasn’t ready for that yet, but she was making progress. 

“That’ll do for now lass, I’m content with that.” Becky broke the hold of their pinkies and reached over to wipe a tear from Charlotte’s face. Before she could pull her hand back, Charlotte reached up and covered it with her own. 

“I’m glad it’s you, Becky. I don’t want to do this with anyone else.” 

“You’re stuck with me lass, no going back now.” Becky winked in her direction and Charlotte gently nodded her head, confirming her agreement. “Not to ruin the moment but I do have one question.” 

“You can ask me anything” 

“Well…okay, so here’s the thing. We’re both adults. I mean, we’re certainly not getting any younger, right? And I’ve seen you in the gym so I’ve got a good idea of what you’re working with and vice versa…and again, we’re adults and we’re both attractive people and now technically we’re gonna be dating.” Becky could tell Charlotte was about to speak but she shook her head at the other woman, already knowing what Charlotte was going to say. “No, I don’t mean we should sleep together right now.” She paused as Charlotte looked on in pure confusion, her eyebrows furrowed. “I’m just saying that the day is still young, ya know? So if something were to unfold, you’d be okay with that…right? Because I would definitely be into that.” 

Charlotte rolled over onto her other side, facing her bedroom wall. 

“I’m filing a complaint with your mother. You’re the absolute worst.” 

Becky let out a deep laugh as she maneuvered herself to get underneath the bed covers, cozying up to Charlotte. “Is this okay?” She asked with slight hesitation. 

“Yeah.” Charlotte let out a content sigh when she felt Becky’s breath hit the back of her neck. She decided that this time she would make the next move, to show both herself and Becky that this whole situation was, in-fact, okay.

Charlotte reached her arm back to find Becky’s, bringing it forward to drape across her body. 

“I have one more question.” Becky whispered. 

“Bex come on.” Charlotte whined. 

“It’s a good one.” 

“Go ahead.” Charlotte closed her eyes as she got comfortable and ready for sleep to overtake her. 

“Are you a top or bottom?” Her eyes shot open, but before she could muster up a response she heard Becky giggling behind her. “I’m just kidding lass, it’s obvious you’re a bottom.” 

“What the fuck?”


	5. Learning Each Other

They went on four dates in a span of two weeks which played out exactly as Charlotte predicted they would. Becky arranged two of them and she arranged the other two. They had done a casual beach date, formal dinner date, a movie date, and a lunch date.

Charlotte’s favorite one thus far was the beach date just because it truly represented who the two women were, but to say she didn’t enjoy seeing Becky all dressed up just for her during dinner would be an absolute lie. 

On each one of their dates the two women got to know more about each other, like how Charlotte doesn’t believe in Ranch on salads but will not touch fries or chicken wings without a side of it as a dipping sauce. Becky agreed that it didn’t belong on salad but they had an entire 15 minute discourse on ketchup versus Ranch for fries. Charlotte finally got to see the lawyer side of Becky jump out that day and she made a mental note to try and avoid it whenever possible moving forward . 

Becky learned that while Charlotte enjoyed the outdoors and being at the beach, she was not much of a fan of actual nature. Every time a breeze passed through and Charlotte wasn’t sure if it was a leaf or flying insect Becky got to see and hear the woman go through an out of body experience. That was definitely a highlight for her. 

They learned at the same time that if a dog was injured, lost, hungry, or just overall existed in a movie, then their tears could not be controlled. 

On this particular Friday night Charlotte had come home early from work and was on the phone with her mother as she waited for Becky to arrive. They decided that after a heavy work week for both women it was best they just spend the night in and not worry about having to go out. 

The topic of discussion on the phone was Becky though, much like every other conversation between Charlotte and her mother since Becky popped back into the picture. 

“Sweetie the most important part is that you’re happy and it’s important that you allow yourself to be, okay?” Elizabeth’s voice carried through the speaker as Charlotte sat at her kitchen island and skimmed through a Pottery Barn magazine. “And if for whatever reason you find yourself not being happy then you gotta say something.” 

“I know mom, so far everything is perfect though and I couldn’t ask for more.”

“What about the sex?” 

“Oh no we are definitely not going to have this discussion. Not now or ever, just for future reference.” 

Elizabeth scoffed on the other end. “I don’t know why you act like that’s something we can’t talk about.”

“It’s for my own sanity, mother.” 

“I’m just saying, you’re both gorgeous women and it’s a shame neither one of you is sexually active.”

“Mother please stop.” Charlotte heard the front door open and leaned back in her chair, seeing Becky taking off her shoes before she looked up and met Charlotte’s gaze. 

“I bet you two would be perfect sexual partners.” Becky froze in her spot and raised her eyebrow as Charlotte finally remembered her mother was on speaker phone and tried her best to cut the woman off before she went any further. 

“Okay mom, it was so nice talking to you but I have to go now.” She turned her speaker off and put the phone up to her ear. 

Becky finally ended up across from Charlotte on the other side of the kitchen island, smirking at her. Charlotte smiled in her direction before sticking her middle finger up. 

“Apparently that’s what your mother wants me to do.” Becky whispered. 

“Mom I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?” 

“Okay sweetie, love you,”

“Love you too mom, bye.” Charlotte hung up the phone and looked back at Becky. The other woman still carried a smile on her face and Charlotte was sure it wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t ask questions.” Becky said putting her hands up in surrender and walking around the island, coming to stand in front of Charlotte. “I missed you lass, can’t believe two whole days without you affects me this much.” 

“I’m kind of a big deal.” Charlotte shrugged and Becky let out a laugh before she put her arms around the other woman’s waist and brought them chest to chest. “I missed you too.”

“I know you did. I’m an even bigger deal.” Charlotte laughed and lightly shoved the other woman away before getting up from her seat. 

“I’m going to the restroom really quick, make yourself at home as per your usual uncultured ways.” 

Before Becky could respond, she heard her own phone text notification go off. She saw Elizabeth’s name flash across the screen and opened the message, letting out a laugh. Charlotte looked back and Becky held up her phone. 

“Your mom really wants you to get laid it seems.” Charlotte groaned and walked out of the room. “We both just want what’s best for you Charlotte!” 

*** 

Becky definitely knew she should have gone home hours ago, but technically it was Friday and that meant both women could choose to sleep-in the next morning, so it wasn’t the worst decision she made to continue laying on the couch with her head in Charlotte’s lap as they let the TV watch them. 

“You’ve already dropped that damn phone on your face twice I don’t understand why you keep doing this to yourself.” Charlotte said from above her. Becky kissed her teeth and waved her away with her free hand. 

“You don’t understand the life of a gamer. A phone falling on your face is just part of the lifestyle.”

“Okay, I don’t think you qualify as a gamer by playing Words With Friends.” 

“That sounds like something a loser would say.” 

“Hey! I’m one word away from turning this game completely around thank you very much.” 

They had been sitting in silence for the past half-hour, both of them focused on their phones and their current game against each other. The only time they acknowledged each others presence was to let out a gloating laugh when they saw the other woman roll her eyes at a high scoring word being played. 

There were only five tiles left and Charlotte was losing, but she still had a chance to win and extend her streak to an entire two games. So far neither woman had accomplished that feat. 

“Alright, here we go.” Becky announced and Charlotte’s attention remained focused on her phone screen as she saw Becky’s word come through. She knew right away that the game was over. 

“Damn! I knew you had that W!” 

“Heck yeah baby! I’ve been saving that just for this moment.” Becky got up from her position and turned around to look at Charlotte with a bright smile on her face. “Well, go ahead and play your last word.”

“This sucks.” Charlotte moved her letters around on the screen and then pressed Send, immediately looking up and focusing her attention on Becky. She saw everything unfold in slow motion. 

“What the fuck?” Becky asked in confusion, finally looking back up at Charlotte. This time the other woman got up and stretched her arms out above her. 

“Oops. Guess I won.” Becky let out a low growl and reached forward, pulling Charlotte back down by the front of her shirt. Charlotte laughed as Becky climbed on top of her and started tickling her. “No, come on Bex! Don’t be such a sore loser!” 

“Tell me how you cheated and I’ll let you go.”

“Nobody had to cheat babe, some of us are just born superior.” They tussled lightly back and forth before Becky finally managed to hold Charlotte’s arms down above her head. “You’re lucky you’re cute because otherwise I would have dropped you on the floor by now.” Charlotte said as she continued to struggle. 

“Well you’re lucky you’re the most beautiful woman I have ever seen because that’s the only reason I put up with your bratty attitude.” 

“I’m not bratty!” Charlotte got one arm out just enough to pinch Becky’s side which caused the other woman to jump and release her hold on the other arm. Before she could get herself back into position, Charlotte used her legs to wrap around the smaller woman before she flipped their position. “Take it back!”

“This is classic brat behavior, you are doing yourself zero favors lass.” Becky bucked and knocked Charlotte backwards; however, before the other woman could fall Becky grabbed her by the arm to keep her on the couch. “Are we even?” 

“Absolutely not.” Becky shrugged and pulled her hand back, letting Charlotte drop to the floor with a soft thud. “I can’t believe you let me go!” Becky laughed for a few seconds before she was forcefully pulled down, landing next to Charlotte. “Now we’re even.” Charlotte panted out. 

*** 

Becky yawned for the sixth time in ten minutes and Charlotte looked over from her side of the bed. “I don’t know why you keep fighting it, just go to sleep.” 

“No thank you, I’m perfectly fine.” She tried to stifle her next yawn but was unsuccessful and Charlotte decided she had enough. She reached over across the bed and grabbed the remote from Becky, turning the TV off. “Hey!” 

“Goodnight.” Charlotte fluffed her pillow one last time and turned over onto her side, facing away from Becky. The other woman puffed out her cheeks and continued to lay on her back, twiddling her thumbs. 

“You wanna know a secret?” Becky whispered. 

“No.”

“Well…that’s uncalled for.” Charlotte groaned and flipped back over to face Becky. 

“Fine, go ahead.”

“Well not if you’re gonna act that way.” Charlotte shrugged and began to turn over once again when a hand on her arm stopped her. She rolled her eyes and got back into position, looking at Becky. “Alright I’ll tell you…but you can’t tell anyone!” 

“Why would I tell anyone?”

“Because I told everyone you tripped and fell in the driveway last week when you tried to pretend you didn’t know where the bruise on your shoulder came from. And because I acted out the whole scene. Multiple times.” 

“You have a point…but I promise I won’t tell anyone your secret.”

“It’s not even a big deal honestly, it’s just that I’m not the biggest fan of falling asleep in the dark.” 

“What does that mean?”

“Well…okay…so you know how you just turned off the TV and it’s dark in the room? So I can’t fall asleep in a dark room.” 

“Are you trying to say you’re afraid of the dark?”

“I’m not a child Charlotte, I’m not afraid of the dark. I just can’t fall asleep when there isn’t any light.”

“Oh, so you’re afraid of the dark.” Becky turned her head to cut her eyes at Charlotte but remained on her back, refusing to turn her body towards the other woman. “It’s okay to say it.”

“I said what I said.” 

“Afraid the Boogey Man is going to hear and come after you?” Charlotte let out a soft laugh when she saw Becky’s features become stoic and decided to take pity on her. “There’s a nightlight in the guest bathroom, I’ll go get it.” She got out of bed but Becky quickly followed right after.

“I’ll come with you, for protection.”

“Oh good, because I was worried I was going to have to take on your arch nemesis darkness all by myself.”

“Says the woman who tripped over nothing in daylight.”

“I hope the darkness eats you.”

“Not funny!” Becky yelled as she hurried to keep up with Charlotte, who was already walking out of the room. 

*** 

“I have another secret.” Becky whispered as the two women were back in bed, this time Becky feeling more comfortable and relaxed now that a nightlight was plugged into the corner of the room, giving off a slight glow. “It has to do with you.”

“I’m not changing sides of the bed, this is my side.”

“That’s not it, this is actually my side. Fate worked out for us there.” 

“Then what is it? Because I’m honestly terrified I’ll never get enough sleep again for the rest of my life dealing with you.” Charlotte said.

“Already planning our future together lass? I like it, I believe in it, and strongly support it.” Charlotte closed her eyes and bit her lip, taking a deep breath to calm herself down. “What I wanted to tell you though was that the other day I told someone about you. Like our backstory and such…and they said they were glad I found a nice girlfriend for myself, and honestly I got sad that someone called you my girlfriend before I could.” Becky stuck her bottom lip out and pouted, and thanks to the nightlight, Charlotte was able to see her features clearly. 

“I can’t believe how dramatic you are.” Becky gasped and put her hand over her chest. “See, there you go again.” 

“I'm trying to be completely serious and put my heart out there and you’re just being so rude right now.” 

“Oh shut up.” Charlotte grumbled and reached over, pulling Becky unsuspectingly into her. Suddenly they were mere inches away from each other and Becky licked her lips as she looked at Charlotte's own before her gaze traveled upwards and finally settled on blue eyes. “Becky Lynch, do you want to be my girlfriend?” Charlotte questioned. 

“Does the job come with a good benefit package?” Charlotte gasped mockingly. “I’m just kidding lass, I’d love nothing more than to be your official girlfriend and do girlfriend things with you.” 

There was a pause in conversation as both women smiled at each other.

Eventually Becky maneuvered her body to get even closer and Charlotte welcomed it, wrapping her arm around the other woman's waist and pulling her in. Their foreheads rested against each other and Becky once again focused on Charlotte’s lips. “Kiss me.” Charlotte whispered. 

Becky quickly looked up, almost as if she wasn’t sure Charlotte was talking to her. Then she saw the clarity in Charlotte’s blue eyes and knew she was allowed to take the next step, to do what she had been wanting to do since the moment she saw this woman standing on the other side of the door at the dinner gathering. Even before then, and one day she might even tell Charlotte that story, but not now. 

She reached up and tucked a few loose strands of blonde hair behind Charlotte’s ear before she leaned forward to close the space between them. 

When Becky captured Charlotte’s lips between her own she finally understood why she never had the same reaction to all those sappy romantic comedies she would watch with her friends over the years. She finally understood why she never connected to love songs the way others did. 

She had never felt this way before — she was both ecstatic and downright terrified. Suddenly it was all so real, she had somehow convinced Charlotte that she was worth giving a chance to and now she had to find a way to live up to what Charlotte deserved. And if you ask Becky, nobody could do that because Charlotte deserved nothing less than the world. 

Becky pushed forward and climbed on top of the blonde, Charlotte hooking her legs around Becky’s waist to bring her in closer, no matter how impossible the task seemed. 

Neither one knew how long they remained engaged in the moment, but eventually Charlotte bit down on Becky’s lip just hard enough for the other woman to pull back from the kiss and run her thumb over her bottom lip, bringing it up to inspect it for any traces of blood. 

She looked down at Charlotte who tilted her head to the side and showed off a bright smile. “Is that your kink?” Becky questioned as she sat up but remained straddling her.

“Nope.” Charlotte said as she too sat up, not ready to part ways with Becky just yet. She kept her arms around Becky’s waist to keep her in place and took it upon herself to initiate the kiss, first running her tongue gently over Becky’s bottom lip before capturing it.

“Let’s just continue this until I find out what it is, okay?” Becky hurriedly said as she pulled back to catch her breath before their lips once again found each other. 

*** 

There was a sense of electricity between the two women as their bodies reacted naturally to each other, and even though the night had started in complete exhaustion from both sides, they suddenly had too much adrenaline coursing through their veins and it seemed like neither one wanted to come down from their high anytime soon. 

“Be honest, did you ever think we would be here?” Becky asked as she walked into the bedroom. Charlotte looked over in her direction and became mesmerized for so many reasons. The red head only had on an old Harvard sweatshirt Charlotte forgot she even owned and her hair was tied in a top bun, a few loose strands framing the sides of her face. “You’re drooling a bit there lass.” 

Charlotte jolted from her position and shook her head gently to clear her mind before she focused back on Becky’s face, seeing the all too familiar cocky smirk there as she continued to stand by the door, almost daring Charlotte to try and make an excuse. 

“Okay, relax woman, I was just very interested in the snacks you brought us.” 

“Oh I’m definitely more than just a snack.” Becky proclaimed as she made her way over to the bed, gently putting the tray of food down on her side before she walked around and climbed in next to Charlotte. “Your kitchen needs some TLC in regards to food by the way.” 

“I just went grocery shopping, what are you talking about?” 

“Okay well I wasn’t going to make us any baked chicken thighs and rice as a post coital meal, you need better food options for these types of occasions.” 

“Ew, never use that word again. Coital.” Charlotte mock gagged and shivered and Becky shrugged, leaning over the blonde to grab a grape from one of the bowls on the tray.

“Doesn’t matter what word I use, it won’t change the fact that you and I are now bonded for life because there is no way I am ever letting you do any of what we just did with anyone else.”

Charlotte blushed and reached for the bowl of grapes, bringing it over to her lap and positioning herself directly in front of Becky before she stretched her legs out on each side and laid the bowl down between them. 

“Is it weird that it doesn’t feel weird?” She asked.

“If you felt weird every time you banged someone before then you were banging the wrong people."

“That’s even worse than coital! Why can’t you just say we had sex?” 

“Don’t be so crude, lass. I have to look your parents in the eye again one day and how can I do that when you say things like that?” 

Charlotte took a grape and playfully shoved it into Becky’s mouth, but before she could pull her hand back Becky gently grabbed a hold of it and placed a few soft kisses to her fingers before bringing their hands down together, pinkies locked. 

“It’s different with you Bex, it just feels right.”

“I assume it felt right, I was there when you came. All four times.” Becky winked and popped another grape into her mouth. “Also, for what it’s worth, I think I figured out your kink.” 

“Did it ever occur to you that maybe I don’t have one?” 

“Everyone has a kink.” 

“Well, I guess we can both discover mine together.” 

“Listen I always said after law school that I would never care enough about a subject again to dedicate my time to studying it because of how much reading and research I had to do, but this? Sign me up for every course possible please, I will gladly attend every class to help you figure this out.” 

Charlotte smirked at the bravado Becky exuded. “You sound highly sure of yourself that I’d accept you into my class.” 

“I fucking dare you to try and find a better student.” Becky challenged. Charlotte, with a grape halfway to her mouth, dropped it back into the bowl and studied Becky’s face. She swore the red head’s eyes became even darker than usual, her nostrils flared, and her lips suddenly formed into a thin line. 

“Bex.” Charlotte whispered. “I think we found my kink.” 

“I think we found mine too, lass.”


	6. Making Plans

It was their first Target trip together and Charlotte was equal parts excited and scared. She knew the type of person she was inside and outside of the store — and she wasn’t sure she was ready to share her in-store persona with Becky just yet, but they planned an upcoming weekend getaway and she had to get a few things before then. 

Becky didn’t seem to have any reservations about the whole thing so Charlotte immediately knew the other woman had way more self control than her.

“You want a basket or a cart?” Becky asked as they walked through the entrance. 

A basket would be the smart choice, Charlotte thought. That way she would have to stop herself from any impulse purchases, there simply would be no way to fit everything into a basket. 

“Let’s get a cart, I don’t feel like carrying a basket.” Charlotte never said she was perfect, she will admit to that. 

“Oh there’s a Starbucks in this Target! You want me to get us something and meet up with you?” Becky asked as she pulled a cart free from the others and stood next to Charlotte, waiting for their next move. 

“Yeah, you know what I like.” 

“Sure do, lass, and don’t you forget it.” Becky winked and hip checked her as she walked in the other direction. 

Charlotte shook her head and proceeded to make her way deeper into the store. The home decor section was up first and they had the perfect shower mat that matched with the new towels Charlotte got during her last Target run. Then there were two candles that were basically made for her guest bathroom. Someone even left a random tumbler in the section, a queen’s crown emoji embedded onto it. And honestly, she never even thought about referring to herself as a princess or queen before Becky started using the latter in their texts— through emoji and word. Now Charlotte felt it in her soul. The tumbler being left there was obviously fate so she took that too. You don’t question fate. 

She was rummaging through the kitchen section in search of glasses for the next time she uses her new tumbler to make drinks when Becky finally met up with her, two tall Starbucks cups in her hands. 

“What ya looking for?” She asked innocently enough, handing Charlotte her drink and then glancing into the cart before she did a double take and focused on the items inside. “I assume this isn’t going to be a quick trip for travel items, is it?” Charlotte wrapped her lips around her straw and just looked at Becky. The red head picked up the tumbler and cocked her head to the side before looking around in the aisle. “Alright then, I guess we’re looking for glasses now?” 

“Wait, you’re okay with this?” 

“There are people out there who murder in their spare time so I’m completely content with you maybe not being able to control yourself inside a Target. You’re not the first and certainly won’t be the last.” Becky shrugged and began to search the shelves, leaving Charlotte stuck for a few seconds before she snapped out of it and started her own search for glasses a few feet down the aisle. “For what it’s worth, even if you were a murderer I’m pretty sure I’d still be okay with it.”

An employee who chose the exact same moment to walk down the aisle gave the two women a worried look and Charlotte just smiled awkwardly at him as he passed by. 

“I’m not going to murder anyone, don’t worry Bex.”

“No no, I’m not saying you would. I certainly haven’t picked up on any vibes or anything, but I just want you to know that it would be okay. I guess I wouldn’t understand why you would need to do it but I’d definitely try my hardest to get you a shorter sentence or at least amazing visitation rights.” 

To Charlotte it seemed like suddenly everyone came to Target in search of kitchenware because more and more people were randomly walking up and down the same aisle as them, obviously hearing their conversation. Becky either didn’t notice or chose to not care at all as she kept her voice at a higher volume than usual for Charlotte to be able to hear her a few feet away. 

“Nobody here is a murderer.” Charlotte said with a nervous chuckle, also making sure her voice was heard loud and clear for those around. 

“Well someone is, this is a big place and I’m sure there’s at least one person here who has murdered in their lifetime but gotten away with it. Which is fine, you know? Eventually it’ll catch up to them I’m sure, but I want you to know that when it catches up to you I’ll be here for you.”

“Oh my God shut up! I haven’t killed anyone.”

“That’s good, stick with that. I like the energy and passion behind it, it’s believable. That’s the way you want to be in court too.”

“Becky seriously shut up!” 

“I’d help you hide the body too, just so we’re clear. But if that fails then honestly it makes no sense for both of us to go to jail, and since technically I didn’t murder anyone and you did it’s only fair that you go. Oh these glasses look nice, what do you think?” Becky turned in her direction, holding up a glass for Charlotte to see when she noticed a few people standing around and staring at her. “Oh, hello there.” 

The people began to disperse, suddenly trying to get out of the aisle as quickly as possible without making any eye contact. Becky shrugged and walked over to Charlotte. 

“Weirdos. Anyways, what do you think?” She held the glass up again while Charlotte just looked at her with a blank stare. 

*** 

They arrived last to the bar, Paige and the twins already having been inside and a few drinks in by the time they finally got there. Nikki and Brie had become somewhat close with Paige in the short while they had known each other and Becky had mentioned to Charlotte how glad she was about that. 

She explained some of Paige’s past troubles and mentioned how difficult it was for her to trust people — something Charlotte could relate to, but how Nikki and Brie had somehow broken through that wall — something else Charlotte could relate to. 

Charlotte took a sip of the Lemon Drop she ordered and looked to where Brie and Paige were dancing by the bar, both of them clearly feeling the affects of their alcohol but having an absolute blast. 

“So I guess Brie isn’t going to be coming into the gym tomorrow, which means I won’t be coming in either.” Becky said as she enjoyed a sip of her beer. 

“Knowing my sister she is going to be in bed all day tomorrow and then ask to do it all over again come nighttime. It’s like selective hangover amnesia or something.” Nikki responded while drinking more of her wine. “But this is the same girl who made herself a margarita and put it in a reusable water canteen and then took it to her Psychology final when we were in college. By the time she finished the exam she was completely buzzed.”

“Holy hell, how did she do on her test?” Becky asked.

“Somehow she still passed.”

“A true American hero who doesn’t get enough credit.” Charlotte opined. “One time she got tired of ordering the same wine over and over again and just asked to buy the whole bottle from the bartender and drank straight out of it instead.” 

“Do you feel like you have to be the more responsible one because you’re technically older?” Becky asked Nikki. 

“I think it would be this way even if she were older honestly, I was just never the let loose and party type of girl. I mean I can have a good time, sure, but I’m constantly worried about the hangover and headache I might have the next day so that kind of stops me.”

“Meanwhile Brie just climbed onto the bar.” Becky pointed out and both Charlotte and Nikki turned their heads, watching Paige fist pump in encouragement while Brie danced around in place on top of the bar. “Should we get her off?” 

“No.” Both girls said, turning their attention away from the scene and back to their table. 

Becky continued to stare wide eyed at what was happening; however, she realized that not even the bartender seemed to mind. “I assume this isn’t anything new then?” She asked. 

“This is what we dubbed Brie Mode a long time ago and luckily we know the owner and everyone who works here so they just let her do whatever she wants as long as she doesn’t start any fights.” Nikki explained. “At least now she has Paige to accompany her during all these bad decisions.” 

“Yeah, and Paige is so taken by the both of you. Thanks so much for being so great to her by the way, she really needed someone like you two to help her out.” Becky said sincerely.

“Of course! We love Paige already, she’s like the little sister we never had and she’s such a pure person so anytime she ever needs anything I hope she knows we’re gonna be here.” 

“These two love taking on projects, and a woman who maybe hasn’t tapped into her full potential yet because of inner demons? That’s their favorite type of project.” Charlotte pointed out. “They held an entire graduation type ceremony for me the day I was finally able to come to terms with the fact that maybe I was never going to look like the girls in the magazines or TV but it didn’t matter because who I am is enough.”

“Aww Charlotte! We would do it again in a heartbeat, we absolutely loved everything we were able to do together with you because you’re honestly so beautiful and it killed us to know that you didn’t see that in yourself. But look at you now!” Nikki said with a giant smile on her face. 

“And those girls in the magazines are overrated anyways, you’re better than all of them.” Becky chimed in. “I’d certainly choose you every time.” 

Charlotte blushed and rolled her eyes. “You have to say that, you’re my girlfriend.” 

“I’ve already gotten into your pants lass, I don’t have to say much of anything anymore. But I said that because I truly mean it, every part of you is absolutely better than any part of anyone else.” 

“You guys are so cute, I’m so jealous.” Nikki said as she rested her elbows on the table, cradling her head in her hands. 

“Don’t pay any attention to her you guys, she’s still in her post-breakup ‘woe is me’ mode.” Brie said as her and Paige returned to the table and took their seats. “She swears she’s never going to find someone again and she’s just destined to live her life single as can be.”

“Have you ever thought of getting a turtle?” Becky asked and Charlotte elbowed her lightly in the ribs. “That way you won’t die alone.”

“Bex!” 

“We should totally go turtle shopping right now.” Brie said in excitement. 

“Nobody is getting a turtle. Becky’s mother told her to get one a few months ago so she wouldn’t die alone and she has yet to take her advice.” Charlotte explained. 

“Well I don’t need it now, I have you.” Becky stated. “My mother said this when she had no faith in my ability to woo you.”

“You guys are already planning to die together? That’s so cute!” Brie exclaimed. “Nikki we’re for sure going to find you someone soon that you can die with. I actually saw a guy the other day in Whole Foods—.”

“Brianna no!” Nikki said, putting her finger up in her sister’s face. Brie rolled her eyes and swatted the finger away. “I don’t plan to meet and fall in love with anybody at Whole Foods. I’m actually fine being single right now, it’s nice having some time for myself and getting to do things I had either forgotten about or gave up to please others.”

“One time I gave up cheese in a relationship and it was horrible.” Becky said. “We were together a whole three days after that before I told her we weren’t gonna work out.”

“I gave up the idea of marriage and kids.” Nikki said solemnly. 

“Anything to add, Bex?” Charlotte asked. Becky widened her eyes and shook her head.

“That’s intense. But maybe if you had some really good cheese you wouldn’t even care anymore.” 

“I think it’s best you just stop talking babe.” Charlotte whispered and Becky nodded in agreement before giving a thumbs up and going back to her drink. 

“Whatever sis, if he couldn’t see the gift he had in you then you shouldn’t be crying over him, it’s all his loss. You gained strength and he walked away with nothing.” Paige said throwing her arm around Nikki’s shoulders. Brie mirrored her from the other side. 

“I never liked him anyways. We have each other and don’t need anything or anyone else.” She said as she kissed Nikki’s cheek and got a smile out of her sister. “There we go!” 

“Woman what did you always tell me when I would sit there crying over some shitty thing that happened because of a girl?” Charlotte asked Nikki. 

“That sometimes things fall apart so better things can fall together.”

“Exactly, so let’s focus on what’s about to fall together.” Charlotte raised her glass and clinked it against Nikki’s wine glass. 

“You’re completely right, I’m gonna live my best life and whatever happens, happens. I’m tired of thinking I need someone right this second, especially since I have all of you guys around.” 

“I’m a fucking gift.” Brie proclaimed.

“I think we need another round of drinks, let’s go Brie.” Paige said getting up from her seat and taking Brie by the hand, both of them walking away in a fit of laughter back towards the bar. 

*** 

Charlotte looked at her watch and felt a jolt of excitement run through her body. She had two more hours before she was done with her shift and officially on vacation mode. Her and Becky had decided to go to Las Vegas and enjoy the strip for two days before renting a car and driving to the Grand Canyon. 

She was in the elevator going up to the Medical Records department to dictate the operative report from the surgery she had just finished up when her ride was cut short as it stopped on the Pediatrics floor and the doors opened, revealing Peyton and Billie. 

“Well would you look at who it is mate, Dr. Flair herself.” Peyton said as they got onto the elevator with Charlotte and pressed the button for one floor above Medical Records. 

“Haven’t been visiting us much recently, some other people might be hurt by those type of actions but lucky for you we know that absence makes the heart grow fonder and that’s obviously what you’re aiming for here.” Billie said with a wink. 

“Or she’s avoiding us so she doesn’t have to tell us about her girlfriend.” Peyton added. 

“No Peyton, Dr. Flair would never do that. Especially not when we had to hear about the other train wrecks she thought would make good girlfriends, obviously she would tell us all about the woman who was actually worth her time. It’s the right thing to do.” 

“Okay, okay. I get it. I’m sorry, I’ll tell you guys about Becky.” Charlotte said holding up her hands in surrender. 

“Well we’re listening mate.” Billie said expectantly before the elevator stopped again at Charlotte’s destination. 

“I have to dictate an operative report and then I can come find you.” She said stepped off the elevator; however, the other two women followed. “I thought you guys were going upstairs?”

“Oh no, we had the Ortho nurses on alert to let us know when you get on the elevator. We got nowhere else to be but with you, mate.” Peyton said as they continued to follow Charlotte down the hall. 

“Alright fine, what do you want to know?”

“What do we want to know? She asked what we want to know, Peyton.”

“Everything, you big ol’ dumb dumb. We’re talking favorite food, favorite store in the mall, favorite movie, what she thinks about your inability to talk about anything meaningful ever.” 

“Whoa, first of all I can talk about meaningful things, I just choose not to have my business out there for everyone to know.” 

“Did you rehearse that answer? You can’t possibly believe that.” Peyton said as they entered the dictation room, finding a free computer and Charlotte taking a seat. 

“Oy, buddy!” Billie called out to a young man sitting in a chair not too far from them and eating from a bag of chips while he scrolled through his phone. “Up you go, the break room is down the hall. Don’t you see we’re doing important work here?” 

The man scurried off and left the now unoccupied chair for them to pull over towards Charlotte. Billie took a seat first before Peyton squeezed in next to her. “So tell us more about this delusion you have of you being able to discuss your feelings.” Peyton said. 

“I just don’t like how everyone in this place knows each others business, doesn’t that bother you guys? The fact that I know who had a pregnancy scare before that person even checks their pregnancy stick to see what it says is problematic.”

“That’s mighty dramatic of you. I thought I caught the plague the other day and nobody but Peyton knew because she had to google the symptoms for me. Turns out I just had horrible food poisoning but that’s besides the point.” 

“Okay, well I still don’t want my business traveling through these halls. I’ll tell you two whatever you want to know but I won’t be doing it out there in front of everyone.”

“Deal. Anyways, you look really good, mate. Like I have never seen you look this happy and carefree and it’s nice to see.” Peyton said. 

“Yeah, you used to look absolutely unapproachable. Obviously it never bothered Peyton and I because we understood it wasn’t us, it was you.” 

“I get it.” Charlotte said rolling her eyes. “And I truly am happy, I never thought this was the type of thing that would happen for me, not after so many mistakes that came before.”

“Those losers weren’t worth your time at all, screw them.” Billie said with a wave of her hand. 

“Becky’s the first person to make me understand what a real relationship is supposed to be like. I mean, I saw my parents growing up and I see them now but for some reason I still wasn’t getting it. Then Becky showed up and things just changed.”

“I’m sure there were others before her though that tried to get you interested, why did you decide to let your guard down with her?” Billie asked. 

“I think it was a combination of things. For starters, we met at my parents house and it was a family dinner sort of thing so I didn’t go into it with any expectations and I certainly made zero effort to try and be anything other than my normal self. Usually I feel like the pressure of a date just had me acting so off-brand that it threw everything else off.” 

“From her social media, and yes we did stalk her obviously it's what friends do, we know she’s an absolute hottie though mate. You had to have embarrassed yourself at least a few times that night as you tend to do around pretty women.” Peyton said with a smirk. 

“That’s what I was assumed would happen as soon as I saw her but I think just being in that house, I felt like I was in my safe space and everything made sense. It really did just start out as pure friendship and I think it was the first time I felt like oh a girlfriend is supposed to be a friend as well, like it’s in the word itself why didn’t I figure it out before? I don’t think I ever had a true friendship with anyone I dated and I would act one way around them and then another way with my friends, those lines never crossed for me.”

“When did you decide you were ready for more?” Billie asked. 

“I haven’t even told her this but there was one night where we were just hanging out at my house and she said how it was time for her to head out and I was so heartbroken. Like it truly broke me to think that she would leave and then it would just be me all alone again and that I wouldn’t hear her voice until the following day or whatever.”

“That’s disgustingly cute.” Peyton said as both girls had huge grins on their faces, completely enthralled in the story. “And how long after that did you guys make it official?”

“I think like maybe two weeks?” Charlotte guessed. “I wanted to tell her so bad, ask her to just be the brave one and take it further because I knew I couldn’t, but I didn’t want to burden her with that. I didn’t want her to think she had to be the one to take charge just because I’m this broken person who needs help with basic human emotion.”

“I hope you know you’re wrong though, that doesn’t mean you’re broken at all.” Billie said with certainty. 

“I guess.” Charlotte shrugged. “It’s just hard to accept things when everything up to this point has been such a shit show. I mean, college was just about hooking up and experimenting with things so that was fun, then medical school hit and I did nothing but study. I became so content with being by myself that I actively avoided anything which would pose a threat to that, and then I met Sam through my internship program and she was just the most toxic individual ever and it took me a long time to come back from that.” 

“We don’t have to talk about her because we were all there when the cops had to get involved, but what was it that made you even fall for her?” Peyton asked. 

“I think just being so exhausted from all those years of schooling to then these crazy hours and demands we have inside the hospital, and then finally getting to that age where suddenly everyone else you know is getting engaged, married or having a child and you look at yourself and think oh it must be time for me to do that too. Then you worry about what options are out there so you latch on to whoever you find first, no matter how many red flags go off.” 

“Well it’s nothing to be ashamed of, if anything you should feel proud and empowered about the fact that you got yourself out of that situation.” Peyton said as she got up from the chair, Billie following her. “We gotta go back downstairs now but make sure you let us know when the wedding is mate, we’re a great hang at parties!”

“Oooh yeah, people love us at parties!” Billie added as she and Peyton walked off giggling at what Charlotte could only assume was a shared memory of past parties which she is sure were in-fact made better by the two young women. 

***

Charlotte and Becky decided they would spend the night at Becky’s house since she lived closer to the airport and then get in an Uber in the early morning hours the following day to make it to their flight. 

They were laying in bed after a quick shower, Charlotte ready to go to sleep as per usual and Becky suddenly wanting to talk about any and every thought that popped into her head. 

Charlotte thought she was in the clear after their conversation regarding how spinach shrinks so much when it’s cooked, she really figured Becky would call it a day after that, but then the topic of work came up and Charlotte made the mistake of telling Becky about her two favorite Australian nurses. 

“It’s flattering that you talk about me at work.” Becky had said with a smug smile on her face. Charlotte just rolled her eyes. “The other day I got asked by my paralegal to close my office door because I was making her uncomfortable with all the smiling I was doing, so I guess in a way you got me sprung too.”

“Well I ran into Ms. Trudy outside when I got out of my car in your driveway and she knows we’re together now apparently.”

“Oh absolutely she knows. I think the whole neighborhood knows actually, I tell anyone who will listen about you and your perfect face, and arms, and legs, and abs, and —”

“You’re nauseating.” Charlotte cut her off, but Becky knew the blonde was blushing and trying to deflect the attention away from her. 

“Ms. Trudy actually gave me something when she found out about us.” Becky leaned over and grabbed an item from her bedside cabinet before she threw it on the bed, directly in front of Charlotte’s face. 

The other woman picked the golden wrapper up and looked at it in confusion. “Does she not know how it works between two women?” 

“The woman’s birth certificate was practically chiseled, that’s how old she is. So no, I don’t think she truly understands how it works between two women.” Becky replied and Charlotte let out a deep laugh. “I just said thank you and went inside, I definitely wasn’t going to tell her we don’t need it. What if she asked for me to educate her?” 

“I’m honestly upset that didn’t happen, I’d pay good money to see you have to tell her how two women have sex.”

“Keep it up and you might never see us have sex again.” Charlotte pressed her lips together and gave a tight smile. “That’s what I thought. At least Trudy can go to sleep tonight thinking she did us a favor and prevented an accidental pregnancy.”

“Oh ya for sure, it would have been in bad taste if we skipped the marriage thing and went straight for pregnancy.” 

“If I could get you pregnant we would already be looking at colors for a nursery.” Becky stated. “But I do admit, I’d love to first try the marriage thing before we move on to babies.” 

“First you botch asking me out on a date and now you’re doing a terrible job with proposing marriage.” 

“Okay but did the date thing still happen for me? Sure did, lass. You’ll be calling yourself Dr. Lynch in no time.”

“Ha! You really think I’d just give up my name that easy? Woman you must be confusing me with someone else.”

“Not even married for a day and we’re already arguing about the whole thing. Maybe it’s best we do babies first and see how we feel after.”

“Probably, just pop out a boy and a girl and go our own way after.” 

“Sounds like a good plan. Did you want to start with that now or—“

“Goodnight Becky.”

“Sure, I completely understand. We can save that for tomorrow when we’re on the plane, enjoy a nice ‘Mile High Club’ scenario.” 

“Wouldn’t be the first time.” 

“Wait, you’ve joined the club already?” 

“You haven’t?”

“This is truly unacceptable. What’s her name? I will kill her.”

“Time for bed now, see you in the morning.” Charlotte leaned over and placed a quick kiss on Becky’s lips before turning onto her other side and settling in for a few hours of rest before they had to be up. 

“The audacity of some nobody to take the mother of my future kids and treat her like that? She deserves a bed with rose petals laid out on it, candles in the room, soft music playing. Not some airplane bathroom.” Becky mumbled as she positioned herself behind Charlotte, throwing her arm over the blonde’s waist and interlocking their fingers when their hands met.

“But you just said you wanted to —” 

“And you said goodnight already so you excused yourself out of this conversation and have no right to voice your opinion at this time. That woman is a nobody and I will make sure you understand that tomorrow.” Charlotte let out a laugh as Becky brought them even closer together. “We will not be telling the children about this.” She whispered and Charlotte chose not to respond, letting Becky have the last word so they could get some actual sleep before their flight in the morning.


	7. Love

The two women had arrived in Vegas before noon, checking into their hotel room before deciding to go get some food on the Strip. The original plan was to have lunch and then go back to the room, change, and then enjoy the pool and spa accommodations for the rest of the day before going out at night.

However, after lunch Becky decided she wanted to get some gambling in before going back to the room and Charlotte agreed to it. They made it back to Treasure Island, where they were staying, and found two free penny slot machines next to each other, taking a seat side by side and getting comfortable. 

Becky put a hundred dollar bill in her machine before reaching over and doing the same to Charlotte’s. Charlotte assumed they would play about fifteen minutes before losing their money and then they’d be on their way.

But then, Becky apparently found the one slot machine in Vegas that actually wanted to pay out and the original hundred dollars she put in was quickly increasing to a few hundred dollars in profit. 

Charlotte lost her money fairly quickly but was content in her seat, enjoying Becky’s reactions — good and bad. 

She particularly enjoyed when Becky was one cherry away from cashing out on the maximum win, the red haired woman stewing in silence for a few seconds before becoming absolutely irate. She kicked the machine initially, but then proceeded to apologize, letting it know she understands.

Eventually they ordered a drink, but as Becky kept playing they decided to keep drinking. At one point Charlotte even wandered off to the CVS connected to the casino, grabbing some snacks for them. 

“Bet I can get this gummy bear into that woman’s drink.” Becky said with a lazy smile, holding the gummy bear up to eye level and squinting, trying to get the proper aim. 

Charlotte slowly turned her head in Becky’s direction before following her line of sight, seeing a woman sitting a few machines down from them with a martini glass next to her. 

“You absolutely can’t and you absolutely won’t be trying it.” Charlotte said, grabbing the gummy bear and popping it into her mouth. 

“Party pooper.” Becky mumbled under her breath. “This is why your mom likes me more.” 

“No she doesn’t, I’m my parents favorite child.” 

“That’s just what we all tell you so you’re not as bratty. Pretty sure they just tolerate you at this point because they know when you come around, I’ll come around.” Becky shrugged, turning back towards the machine and pressing the button for her next bet. 

“You’re a delusional woman, Becky Lynch.” Charlotte continued to just swivel back and forth in her chair while watching Becky before she reached over and smashed one of the buttons on her machine, the other woman scoffing at her actions and swatting her away. 

“I’m going to report you to the gaming police, that’s against the law!” Becky announced. 

Before Charlotte could respond a waitress approached them.“Would you ladies like another drink?”

“I’m actually okay, you want another one Bex?” 

“Uh yeah, if you don’t mind.”

“You can drink however much you want babe.” 

“Another gin and tonic, please.” Becky said to the waitress before she leaned over and kissed Charlotte. “I promise I won’t overdo it and this will be my last one.” She said as she went back to her game.

“Bex, I’m completely serious when I say you can drink however much you want. I have no problem with it, you’re a grown woman who can decide for herself when enough is enough.” 

“I just don’t want you to be embarrassed if I do something.” 

“Oh like what? Throw gummy bears into peoples drink.” 

“Can we agree that I could have made it, though?” 

“Shut up.” Charlotte laughed and reached over again, smashing the buttons for Becky’s next bet.

“Security!” Becky called out and looked around. “These dopes are terrible at their job.” 

The waitress came back over and handed Charlotte the drink while Becky pulled out a few dollar bills and tipped her. Charlotte took a tiny sip before scrunching her face. 

“I don’t know how you can drink these, it tastes like pure gasoline.” She handed the glass over to Becky who took a sip and felt a chill go through her body. 

She took another quick sip for good measure before placing the drink down. “This is my last drink, cut me off after this. I don’t care how you feel about saying no to me, this is me asking you to do me a favor. This one is way stronger than the others, the waitress is trying to kill me.” 

“I think I want some chicken tenders.” Charlotte stated, ignoring Becky. “Are you almost done? How much money have we won? Is it enough for chicken tenders?” 

“It’s enough for every chicken tender in this expensive ass city. Let me just finish this drink and we can go.” 

“No it’s fine, I can wait.” 

“No, you can’t. I’ve witnessed hungry Charlotte before and I do not wish to be in her presence if I don’t have to be. So let’s go babe, we got some chicken tenders to devour.” Becky pressed the ‘cash out’ button and handed the printed voucher over to Charlotte, the blonde putting it into her purse along with their phones and leftover snack bags. 

Becky chugged her drink before she got up and held her hand out for Charlotte to take.

“I don’t think it was smart to chug that.” 

“Not even a little bit, but it’s fine. I’ll just get some fries to soak it up.” They both just laughed as they walked hand in hand towards the exit. “There’s a food court in the Venetian, you want to go there?” 

“Yeah that’s fine.” Charlotte shrugged. “Oh! They have a Fat Tuesday there, I can get a Yard Dog margarita!” 

They exited the casino and walked into the warm night air, away from the air conditioning they had just been in. Charlotte let go of Becky’s hand and started taking off her jacket. 

“Did I ever tell you how much I love when you wear that mesh shirt? It really tingles my Spidey senses.” 

“Ew oh my God never say that again!” Becky laughed and took the jacket from Charlotte, throwing it over her own arm and once again taking the blonde’s hand in her own as they continued their walk. 

“We’re about to get these chicken tenders and margarita in you and you won’t care what I say after that, I’ll have a green light.” 

“Chicken tenders and a margarita, wow. I don’t know what I did to deserve this type of luxury treatment but I’m not complaining.”

“Anything for her royal highness.” Becky mock bowed as she opened a door to enter the hotel and held it open for Charlotte to go through first, the other woman smirking as she walked past.

“Why thank you.” 

“You’re welcome, queen.”

***

“I definitely did not need that last margarita.” Becky groaned out as she covered her eyes with her forearm, trying to block the light coming through the windows to the best of her ability but failing. “I guess one could argue I didn’t need the one that came before it either or the half of yours that you chose not to finish, but honestly I’m not in the mood to argue with myself right now. I’m just gonna end up with my feelings hurt.” 

“I want to know why I woke up without any pants on and you’re fully clothed.” Charlotte said from the foot of the bed, where she had rummaged through her suitcase and found a pair of shorts to put on. Becky opened one eye to look at her before closing it again. 

“Well I don’t know why you had to go and ruin a good thing with those shorts.” She mumbled. “Also, I think I still have my clothes on because I actually died at some point during the night. I’m pretty sure this is just my soul hanging around in the clothes I’m gonna be buried in.” 

“Becky!” Charlotte yelled, causing the other woman to quickly sit up. “Look at my thighs!” Becky squinted her eyes to get a better look before she groaned again and laid back down. 

“Two things lass. First of all, I almost just puked all over the place sitting up that fast so let’s just settle down a little. Second of all, I don’t know whose idea it was to take your pants off but clearly I very much agreed with it.” 

“I really hope my dress covers these marks. If you’re not already dead, I’m for sure going to kill you if I have to wear jeans outside in this heat.” 

“You’re the one who decided to wear that mesh top, you should have known I was gonna be a real fuck-boy about the whole situation.” Becky rolled over and grabbed a water bottle from the bedside table. “Do we have straws in this room? I don’t think I can sit up to drink.” 

“It would be a shame if you died from thirst.” Charlotte walked over to Becky’s side of the bed and reached down, grabbing the bottle from the other woman and opening it before taking a swig. “Mmm, refreshing.” She put the cap back on and put it back on the bedside table, walking away and going into the bathroom. 

“I really thought of putting you in my will and leaving you everything, but not when you act this way!” Becky yelled out before the bathroom door shut. She heard Charlotte laughing on the other side but just rolled her eyes at her girlfriend’s behavior. 

Slowly she once again began to rise from her position in bed, sitting upright and looking around the room before her gaze once again landed on the water bottle. She reached her arm over to grab the bottle but her hand eye coordination failed, the bottle falling over and rolling onto the floor. 

“You okay in there?” Charlotte asked from the bathroom, hearing the thud when the bottle impacted the floor. 

“Please come help me, I honestly can’t do this right now.” Becky all but cried out. The door opened and Charlotte stood in the doorway, toothbrush in her mouth and her hand on her hip. “If you can judge a little quieter I would very much appreciate it.” 

“You’re ridiculous, hold on.” Charlotte disappeared into the bathroom once again before coming out a few seconds later sans toothbrush. She picked up the water bottle off of the floor and made her way back to Becky’s side of the bed, the red haired woman looking up at her in desperation. “Lean your head back.”

“Oh my goodness you’re actually gonna do it, what a Saint!” Becky tilted her head back slightly, Charlotte holding the bottle at the right angle for her to drink. When she finished she smiled up at Charlotte and reached her arms out. “You saved my life, let me make it up to you.” 

“Absolutely not, I can still smell the alcohol oozing out of your pores.” Charlotte lightly shoved her, Becky letting out a groan as her body fell backwards, her head hitting the pillow. 

“You’re the meanest person I know!” She yelled as Charlotte walked off again, laughing the entire way. 

***

Their drive from Vegas to the Grand Canyon took approximately four and a half hours, Charlotte driving the entire time. Originally they had agreed Becky would drive and Charlotte would be the DJ; however, Becky continued to be a victim to the Vegas strip life and was in no condition to drive.

She tried to stay awake during the ride but failed for the most part. She would stir awake a few times, offering up conversation for a few minutes before she would once again be lulled to sleep by the smoothness of the ride. Charlotte didn’t mind too much though, she enjoyed the soft music playing and being alone with her thoughts for a bit.

They had left pretty late in the evening from Vegas, so by the time they arrived to their hotel they both silently agreed to leave their suitcases untouched and climb into bed to rest up for their adventure the next day. 

In the morning they had room service bring in breakfast and took their time getting ready before finally heading out to Grand Canyon Village. 

They made it to Yavapai Point and Becky grabbed a blanket out of her backpack, laying it on the ground in a secluded corner where they could see the view but still have some privacy as they sat together.

“I’m glad you convinced me to add this to our trip, for two reasons actually. I’m pretty sure if we stayed one more day in Vegas they would have had to pump my stomach but also because this view is everything.” Becky said as she put her left arm through Charlotte’s right, drawing the other woman in closer. 

“I remember coming here as a kid, I think it was like the summer after you guys moved away or something. Maybe my parents didn’t want us to feel your family’s absence so they took us all the way out here, hoping we would forget that our best friends weren’t gonna be there to hang out with us like usual when we got back.” 

“You know that entire first year after we moved, I barely spoke to my parents.” Becky admitted. “I was so mad at them for taking us to this weird place where I didn’t know anybody and just expecting me to be okay with it.” 

“Yeah but I bet it was easier for you to make new friends than it was for me.” Charlotte scoffed. “Nobody wanted to be friends with the nerd who wouldn’t shut up about the bacteria is the school water fountains or point out their terrible grammar.” 

“Hey now, somebody did want to be friends with that nerd and her name is Becky Lynch.”

“So how come we lost touch so soon after you moved?” Becky sucked in a deep breath and somehow managed to pull Charlotte closer into her side, resting her head on the other woman’s shoulder. 

“Honestly? I was upset at you.” Becky felt Charlotte attempt to move away but kept her hold steady. “Hear me out before you tell me what a terrible person I am.” She felt Charlotte relax before continuing. “I was upset that you got to stay in the place that you knew. I felt like it wasn’t fair that I had to suddenly start a new life and you were just back home living normally like nothing had changed.”

“But I didn’t make you move.”

“Yeah, well, we know you’ve always the smarter one between us. Obviously I didn’t really think things through when I decided I was mad at you.”

“Not a good excuse.” Charlotte mumbled. “It’s not like I just lost my best friend and could forget about it, because the truth is…I lost my only friend. I had nobody after you moved and it broke me completely.”

“Charlotte come on.”

“No Bex, I’m serious. I never told you because I tried to block that memory out but there would be days where I would just cry and beg my parents to let me stay home from school because the idea of going in that building and being teased and pushed around all day was unbearable. And the one person who I knew would stop that from happening, would stand up for me and make sure I was okay…well, she was gone.” 

“Nobody told me.” Becky whispered.

“Thats because I never told anybody why I didn’t want to go. Everyone just assumed it was because I was bored in class.” 

“I swear Charlotte, if I knew I would have reached out. I just assumed you were living your life perfectly fine without me while I was struggling to find my way, so I just pretended like I was busy when I knew my mom would be on the phone with yours. I didn’t want her to get any ideas of putting me on the phone with you.”

“I probably wouldn’t have reacted well, to be honest. I would have just sat there crying. Maybe it was for the best that we lost touch.” 

Becky released her hold on Charlotte and maneuvered herself on the blanket to get in front of the other woman. “Do you want to know a secret?” 

“Oh God, not this again!” Charlotte groaned out when she saw the smirk on Becky’s face. “What is it this time?” 

“I found you on Facebook once when we were in high school, and I realized that maybe ADA Cabot wasn’t the pretty blue eyed blonde that I was after in the states, maybe it was the girl that I had already met and was trying to get back to.”

“What? Why didn’t you send me a message or friend request?” 

“I didn’t know if you’d remember me and I also felt guilty for thinking oh yeah she’s a real hottie let me slide into her DMs and see where it gets me.” Charlotte let out a light laugh and shook her head. “Although, I see now that it would have gotten me far apparently because it’s clear you can’t resist me.” 

“Get out of here.” Charlotte reached out and lightly shoved Becky but grabbed her arm right after to keep her from falling backwards. “I can’t believe you were scared to tell a girl you thought she was cute.”

“Um hello, have you seen yourself? I knew for a fact somebody had already beat me to the punch so I figured I have to go above and beyond and come all the way to the states to find you in person and profess my love for you.”

“Oh shut up.”

“I’m serious, my dream was that I would come out here for college and then we’d meet and you’d fall in love with me. Just a simple dream, you know?” 

“Yeah, real simple.” They both let out a laugh before Becky slowly stood up, holding her hand out. “What are you doing?” 

“Up you go lass, sun is setting and I want to see it together.” Charlotte took the outstretched hand and got up, tanging their fingers together and standing side by side as they looked out ahead of them. “Truly the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.” Becky whispered. 

“Definitely.” 

“Canyon isn’t too bad either.” Charlotte furrowed her brows before looking over at Becky, the other woman looking directly at her with a shy smile on her face. “Maybe I was too scared to say something back then, but I’m not afraid anymore. I love you, Charlotte Flair.” 

Charlotte felt her heart skip a beat and a quick feeling of disbelief and panic try to force its way into her head before she allowed herself to be completely present in the moment. She allowed herself to really look at the woman standing to her side, her eyes soft and hopeful, her cheeks slightly tinted pink from her confession, and her smile bigger than ever before. 

She turned in Becky’s direction and took her other hand as well, standing in front of her and letting a smile overtake her features. “I love you too.”


	8. Injuries

All Charlotte could focus on was the sounds coming from the monitors in the room, signaling the good and the bad. She tried her best to quickly and accurately scan each and every screen, reassure herself that they weren’t lying to her, that everything would indeed be okay. 

She saw Becky next. She knew Nattie was also in the room and she was glad for that, but if someone were to ask here where Nattie was seated, she would have no idea. She felt her presence, but she only saw Becky. 

Becky. Laying there. A cast on her left leg, white bandages around her left wrist and right forearm, and gauze taped over the right side of her forehead.

But she was awake. She was awake and talking and it was everything Charlotte could ask for in that moment. It could have been worse, so much worse, and she would not know how to handle it if it was.

“Hello there! Nattie, look we have a visitor. And she’s a real looker.” Becky announced with a smile on her face, one Charlotte has seen plenty of times on other patients. She knew the Morphine drip they were giving Becky was working exactly the way it was intended to. “Are you my new doctor?”

“Excuse me?” Charlotte asked, taken back by the question and looking at Nattie in a panic, the other woman sitting in the corner of the room with her attention firmly on the TV on the wall. 

“Becky. We talked about this.” Nattie groaned, rolling her eyes and switching through channels. “It wasn’t funny when you did it to me earlier and it’s definitely not funny now.” 

“Aw, spoil sport.” Becky said.

“Are you serious right now?” Charlotte asked in disbelief. “Did you really think that would be funny? When they told me you were in an accident and they had to bring you in for injuries I almost collapsed in the hallway! And you’re making jokes?” 

“No, no, you’re right. That was an asshole move from asshole me.” Becky admitted. “I’d never forget a face or body like that though, come on lass give me more credit would ya? Come here.” Becky beckoned her over, Charlotte’s feet automatically moving closer to the hospital bed where her girlfriend was currently laying. 

She placed her hand in Becky’s, squeezing just enough to reassure herself that everything was indeed fine. She made sure to discretely check Becky’s pulse as well, silently counting the seconds in her head. 

“What happened babe?” Charlotte whispered, gently running her fingers over the various bandages and moving some of Becky’s hair away from her forehead. 

“Some idiot ran a red light.” Becky answered. “He hit my driver’s side and got me good, but I’m still here. Can’t get rid of me that easy.” She continued. “Can you believe the dopes in the ambulance thought I might have a concussion just because they couldn’t understand me? I almost threw them both out of there but they put the good drugs in me and I was a goner.” 

“They said no surgery for the leg, she’s gonna be in a cast for a while though.” Nattie added, ignoring Becky’s ramblings. “I’m sure you’ll see for yourself later what exactly the damage is once you check her chart and stuff.” 

“Knock knock!” All three women turned to the door, Charlotte recognizing the voices right away though and knowing what to expect. “Doctor Flair, they said you paged us.” Peyton said walking into the room, Billie behind her with a giant grin on her face. 

“Oh they said that, did they? Who is they?” Charlotte asked with a laugh. 

“Doesn’t matter, the important part is that we’re here now. Oh who is this?” Peyton asked, sidestepping around Charlotte and smiling at Becky. 

“Says right here mate, this is Becky Lynch. Car accident. Broken non-displaced tibia, grade one ligament sprain in the wrist, burns on her forearm, head injury with laceration.” Billie read off from the computer in the room. “And I assume this is her emergency contact, Natalya.”

“All of those things are true.” Becky answered. “And based on those accents, you guys and I are about to be fast and best friends. I have heard plenty about you and I very much want this to happen for us.” 

“Oh mate, we are ready and willing. Doctor Flair here is the only thing that’s been standing in our way.” Peyton said. 

“Yeah, and she doesn’t even have a good reason other than she thinks we’re going to embarrass her. Us! We would never do that.”Billie added. 

“At the last luncheon you guys went to the front of the room and made everyone go around and say one nice thing about me after telling them I was feeling sad because I had been single for so long.” Charlotte stated. 

“In our defense, you were single for an extraordinary amount of time.” Billie said. “Plus, that was one time!” 

“Two weeks ago you made everyone on the pediatric floor write me congratulatory messages without telling them what it was for and now I have a giant card congratulating me on the sex I’m having with those innocent messages taped inside.” 

“That was actually Bayley’s idea, we just executed it to perfection.” Billie stated in defense with Peyton off to the side nodding in agreement. 

“I personally love the card.” Becky announced. “I make her keep it up in her room.” 

“See, mate? We’re the best type of people to have around and lucky for you, your girlfriend is going to make sure we are around forever.” Peyton said winking in Charlotte’s direction. 

“Plus, when Becky gets discharged home and you’re stuck at the hospital who do you think is gonna be best equipped to stay with her and help her out, huh? I happen to know two perfectly capable and well trained nurses who are standing in this very room. Plus it’s much easier for us to get days off than you.” Billie said. 

“Nattie can do it, right?” Charlotte asked.

“I’m actually going to Florida to visit my mom for a few days, my flight leaves tomorrow night.” 

“Womp womp. Guess that brings us back to your two favorite Australians.” Billie said pointing to herself and Peyton. “This is gonna be great, all of your favorite people in one place together.” 

“Yeah, we have so much to talk about.” Peyton added. 

“I just want to say that I am very high off of pain medication right now so this sounds like a fantastic scenario and I am pumped for it to happen, but I also can’t help but feel like as soon as the medication wears off I’m gonna be terrified.” Becky said while looking between the two nurses and Charlotte. 

“Classic response mate, we too are terrified of ourselves sometimes.” Peyton said. “We’re gonna go now because hide and go seek starts in about five minutes on our floor and Bayley is going to lose her mind like always trying to wrangle everyone back into their rooms, which is always a great sight to see so we can’t be late to that.”

“But don’t you worry, we will be back around dinner time tonight with some good food so you don’t have to eat whatever the hospital gives you.” Billie said as she and Peyton made their way towards the door. “Doctor Flair, always a pleasure.” They both mock bowed and left the room, their laughter remaining loud and clear as they disappeared down the hallway. 

——

Becky knew that Charlotte was mostly a private person at work, she understood that she kept her circle very small and even with those select individuals she would only share certain things. And no matter how much she tried to play down the relationship, Becky knew that Charlotte considered Billie and Peyton part of her circle. 

The two girls were in a way like the annoying little sisters Charlotte never had and Becky found their relationship to be hilarious because Charlotte had no idea how to handle it. 

But where Charlotte struggled, Becky excelled. She adored having the two nurses around during her recovery and was glad she got to spend extended periods of time with them because they provided the perfect balance of caretakers and friends. 

Originally Becky figured she would go home to recover after her discharge from the hospital, but Charlotte wasn’t having it and it was decided that Becky would stay at her house until her cast came off. She didn’t mind too much, although sometimes she would remember certain things she had at home that she missed. But that’s also why she was grateful for Billie and Peyton, as soon as they found out something was missing they wouldn’t hesitate to have one of them drive over to Becky’s house to grab it. 

They had even started to take her out of the house, even if it was just for a walk around the block sometimes, and Becky really enjoyed those days. It helped her forget that she was stuck in a cast and had limited use of both her legs and arms, and would be that way for a while. No work, none of her usual social activities, and no exercising. 

She thought she would go insane at first, but everyone around her tried to make it as smooth as possible and she was thankful for that. 

“Okay mate, today is the big day. Those stitches above your eye are coming out.” Billie said as she walked into the bedroom, holding up a pair of scissors in one hand and tweezers in the other, a big smile on her face. 

“Can Peyton do it instead? You seem way too excited.” Becky asked. 

“Peyton went to go buy us some face masks so we can get some hydration into that face of yours. Get you looking like a million bucks after we take these bad boys out, and it’ll help with any potential scarring.” 

“I think it would be kind of cool to have a scar, people dig scars. It’s a great conversation piece at any dinner table.”

“Look around mate, this is your future. You’re going to be having dinner with friends and family in this home and all these people will already know about that scar and won’t care to talk about it because it’ll be old news.” 

“We haven’t moved in together, mighty bold of you to assume my future is in this home.” 

“You gotta be joking me!” Billie said as she nonchalantly began to move Becky into a different position, not caring about any resistance the other woman was giving. “By this time next year you guys will be married and probably discussing kids. I mean, you will for sure have a dog at that point.”

“Nah, not married. Charlotte deserves a wedding fit for a queen and that takes a while to plan. I want her to have everything she deserves.” 

“I have to agree with that, but you’re forgetting one big thing, and that’s who she would be marrying. If it was anyone but you I would totally put my money on a huge and extravagant wedding. But with you? She wants one thing mate, and that’s to be your wife. She would do it tomorrow in a courthouse if she knew it was an option.” 

“You really think so?”

“I do, but I also know you wouldn’t want that for her.” Billie said as she gently held down Becky’s head and began to work on her stitches, the other woman wincing with every tug and pull. “Like you said, she deserves a wedding fit for a queen.” 

—— 

“I don’t know about you guys, but this pomegranate and aloe combination is really cleansing my spirit right now.” Billie said from her end of the couch. 

The three women were seated side by side on the couch in the living room with their legs up on the coffee table — Becky’s left leg elevated slightly more with the use of extra pillows, each one with a face mask on and their head leaned back, the TV providing background noise. 

“I feel like I’m going to be a brand new woman after this.” Peyton replied.

“How much longer do we have to sit here like this? I’m hungry.” Becky added, letting out a heavy sigh. 

“Ew this attitude is completely uncalled for during zen hours.” Billie said as she reached over and pinched Becky’s right arm. 

“That’s abuse because I can’t fight back.” The the other woman stated, flinching from the brief onset of pain. 

“Even without your injuries you still wouldn’t be able to take me.”

“Excuse me? I could take you any time, any day. Matter of fact, I can take both of you.”

“I didn’t even say anything!” Peyton defended herself. “I’m just sitting here trying to get some long lasting brightening and toning into my face, just like the box promised I would if I sat here for half an hour. You guys are really interfering with my self care time.” 

“Doesn’t matter, you guys are a team and that’s how teamwork goes. If one person jumps off a building, the other has to follow.”

“What if someone pushes Peyton, do I have to jump after her?” 

“Why would I have to be the one pushed? They should push you!” 

“You’re way easier to convince to go to the edge of the building, it would certainly be you getting pushed off.” 

“If it helps, I’d push you both at the same time.” Becky added. 

“See, that’s a true friend!” Peyton said.

“Okay well we’re both dead now so congratulations on picking the worst friend possible.”

“Wow that’s true. Becky you’re a horrible friend!”

“I simply can’t hear your negativity over the tranquility I am feeling from this mask.”Becky replied, extending her arms out in front of her before spreading them out, lightly hitting the other two and getting shoved away in return. 

Before they took it any further they heard the front door open and all three heads turned towards the entrance of the house, Charlotte appearing with a smile on her face. Becky immediately mirrored the look, unsure what had her girlfriend so happy, but equally happy about it herself. 

“Hey babe!” Charlotte greeted her as she walked towards them. “Hey guys.” She acknowledged the other two women. “What’s happening here?” 

“We’re getting Becky beautiful again.” Billie answered. 

“I’m always beautiful, even with a messed up face and a leg that doesn’t work right.” Becky replied, cutting her eyes towards the other woman with a pointed look. 

“That’s very true, you’re definitely a looker no matter the situation.” Charlotte agreed, leaning down to leave a kiss on the top of Becky’s head. When she straightened back out she heard a scoff to her left, seeing Peyton looking at her expectedly before rolling her eyes and pointing to her own head. 

“Uh hello, you can’t play favorites when all three of us are sitting here. Where’s my kiss?” 

“Ha! I’m hands down the favorite in this room and it’s not even up for debate. Don’t give in to them, they don’t deserve any kisses. Do you know that they refused to let me order pizza today and instead we had to eat chicken and vegetables?” Becky said as she reached behind her and took Charlotte’s hand, something she had been doing more frequently lately even though they were mere inches from each other. 

Charlotte had noticed it but didn’t say anything, she understood that despite Becky’s injuries being far less severe than they could have been it still didn’t erase the fear that lingered from the accident. This seemed to be her way of reminding herself that she was still here, Charlotte was still here, and that everything was okay. 

“Peyton, who am I? ‘My mom said that I have to eat carbs because I’m just a little girl and will waste away if I don’t get enough.’” Billie said in her best Irish accent and deeper than usual voice. “Go ahead, guess!”

“Wait, wait. You do mine first! ‘I’m a big bad lawyer and I will sue you both for negligence if you don’t give me more chocolate pudding.’” Peyton replied, her accent somehow worse than Billie’s. 

“Alright guys, that’s enough.” Charlotte said with a laugh as she saw Becky pouting. “Leave our wounded warrior alone, she deserves our sympathy for a little bit longer.”

“Good luck with that mate, I’m just glad our babysitting time is coming to an end soon because she’s worse than our actual patients in the hospital.” Peyton said shaking her head. 

“Yeah, she growls when you try to fluff her pillows or help her up.” Billie added. 

“She’s also sitting right here.” Becky responded, turning her head in both directions to look at each of them. 

“That’s the thing mate, you’re always there, aren’t ya? Can’t get rid of ya no matter how many times we tried. It’s a shame. Anyways, spa time is over and so is our watch over you because the expert is here.” Peyton peeled off her own mask and Billie followed.

Billie reached over and began peeling Becky’s mask off. Charlotte noted how no matter what banter took place mere seconds ago, Billie still took into consideration Becky’s facial injury and was gentle and meticulous in pulling the mask off without causing pain, Peyton watching from the other side and guiding her as needed. 

She wasn’t sure if Becky noticed just how good the two were at their job because they made it seem so natural and effortless, something she knew came from their experience working in the pediatric department. 

“All done, look at you mate! Fresh as a daisy and dare I say you even look better than you did before the accident.” Peyton said as she gently ran her finger above the injured area, stretching the skin out slightly. “I can barely see the scar. A few more masks and then some facial scrubs once you’re fully healed and you will look like you just came out the womb.” 

“You look perfect as always.” Charlotte said when Becky looked up at her with a shy smile. “Thank you guys, again. I wouldn’t want her in any other hands when I can’t be around.” 

“Anything for you mate.” Billie said as the two women got up simultaneously. “Enjoy your day off tomorrow while we enjoy going back to work with our more civilized patients, unlike this one here.” She added, earning a tight lipped smile in return from Becky. 

“I would say it’s been a pleasure, but it hasn’t been. Get some rest.” Peyton said as she and Billie grabbed their belongings and headed towards the door.

“Thank you!” Becky shouted from her position as she watched the two women walk away, Charlotte following behind. 

“Thanks again you guys, I can’t imaging how exhausted you must be.” The blonde said quietly as she watched the two other women slowly put on their shoes, finally showing some kind of fatigue now that they were removed from Becky’s vision. 

“Where’s the fun in life if you’re not exhausted, you know?” Billie said. 

“Do you guys have the same shift tomorrow?”

“Nope, I am going to go home and take a quick shower and then go to the hospital and Billie here gets to have an entire nap before she goes in.”

“Are you serious? I thought you guys didn’t have to go in until tomorrow, I’m so sorry! I wish you would have told me, I feel awful.” 

“Don’t sweat it mate, we still got our young minds and young legs, unlike you guys. We’re going to be fine.” Peyton said as she opened the door and stepped out, Billie following. 

“Please be safe on your way home and call me if you need me to pull some strings and change any of your shifts, I really do feel bad.”

“Thanks but no thanks. Best of luck with her in there. She can have a pain pill in two hours if she needs it. Her last one was four hours ago but I started giving her only half to taper her off the narcotics and it’s going well. See if you can give her an Ibuprofen next time but don’t tell her you switched them out, it might work.” Billie said. 

“Will do, bye guys.” The two women gave one last wave and Charlotte slowly closed the door and turned back towards the living room, seeing Becky looking at her with a smile on her face. “What are you so happy about?” She asked as she walked back over towards her, a smile taking over her own features 

“The fact that you’re back. I know you’re tired, especially since when you come home you have to deal with me.” 

“Don’t even worry about that, I know that there’s an excellent reward waiting for me after all this.” Charlotte said with a laugh, taking a seat next to Becky on the couch and facing her. 

“You bet there is. A little birdie told me you like things that sparkle.” 

“I love things that sparkle, I don’t care if it’s around my neck, wrist, or in my ears. As long as it sparkles.” 

“I’ll see what I can do.” Becky said with a wink.


End file.
